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INTRODUCTION 



PHRENOLOGY. 



ROBERT MACNISH, LL.D. 



Author of " The Anatomy of Drunkenness" and " The Philosophy of Sleep," and Member of 
the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. 



SECOND EDITION. 



ENLARGED, AND ILLUSTRATED BY THIRTY FOUR ENGRAVINGS. 



GLASGOW: 

JOHN SYMINGTON & CO. 

EDINBURGH:— OLIVER AND BOYD. 

LONDON;— WHITTAKER & CO. 



MDCCCXXXVII. 



TO 



ROBERT COX, Esq. 

CONSERVATOR OF THE MUSEUM OF THE PHRENOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 
EDINBURGH,; 



THIS WORK 



IS INSCRIBED, BY HIS FRIEND, 



THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE 



THE SECOND EDITION. 



The success of this work has greatly exceeded the expec- 
tations of the author. Two thousand copies of the first 
edition were issued, and six months sufficed to exhaust the 
whole number. The book has also been printed by Messrs. 
Marsh, Capen, and Lyon of Boston, in the United States, 
and with every prospect of an equally rapid circulation in 
that country. These circumstances speak well for Phren- 
ology, both in Great Britain and America. In the present 
edition, the work wears an entirely new aspect. It has 
been, in a great measure, re-written; and besides much new 
matter, contains a series of illustrations in wood, executed 
by Mr. Bruce of Edinburgh, the most skilful engraver of 
phrenological subjects in this country. The method of 
question and answer, the propriety of which at first seemed 
doubtful, appears to have been generally approved of. For 



a short treatise on a debateable subject like Phrenology it 
is well adapted, in so far as it affords an opportunity of 
bringing prominently forward all the objections, however 
important or frivolous, which have been made to the science, 
and of meeting them with suitable replies. 

R. M. 




REFEHQPTG TO THE ETGCKES IXI)1CATI>'(; TlfKlll UKI.ATJVK POSITIONS. 



AFFETTITE 


LVTELLECTriL 


/. j'/:oi'KS\ir/K.s: 


//. SBJ9TZMENTS. 


/. r'KurKrrrvt;. 


//. REFLECTIVE. 


1 Am:iti\ I'licss 


lo Self-esteem 


22 liuliVkLualitv 


34 Comparison 


i l'l:ilo|>i')^'<-ii ili\ 'ii' >s 


11 Lore •>! Approbation 


23 FoQcm 


55 Cansalitv 


7> ' <>iic<-iitr;ili\ <-nc\s 


Ii ' Miiimi. sness 


24 Size 




It A<! li«-sr. 


1." 11. -i.-. nee 


25 Weigh* 




.'> ( Mii.l>;t1iv<ii<'.s.s 


1 i- \"ii"i:ili >ii 


26 Cdkraxmg 




<> DcslriKtivciics.s 


15 l'l"M 


27 Locality 




T AlillH-liliviMM-S^ 


• 'ifiitimiMifSK 


28 A'uniber 




7 SlM-l <llVI'll<-.S 




2!) Ostler 




8 A< miitilifi'iu'w 


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33 Langnage 






'i\ liuitalion 







CLASSIFICATION OF THE FACULTIES. 



ORDER I.— FEELINGS, OR AFFECTIVE FACULTIES. 



Genus I. — Propensities. 

1. Araativeness. f Alimentiveness 

2. Philoprogenitiveness. Love of Life. 

3. Concentrativeness. 7. Secretiveness. 

4. Adhesiveness. 8. Acquisitiveness. 

5. Combativeness. 9. Constructiveness. 

6. Destructiveness. 



Genus II. — Sentiments. 
Species 1 — Inferior Sentiments. 

10. Self- Esteem. 12. Cautiousness. 

11. Love of Approbation. 



Species 2. — Superior Sentiments. 

13. Benevolence. 18. Wonder. 

14. Veneration. 19. Ideality. 

15. Firmness. 20. Wit. 

16. Conscientiousness. 21. Imitation. 

17. Hope. 



ORDER II.— INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



Genus I. — The External Senses. 

Feeling. Hearing. 

Taste. Sight. 

Smell. Mechanical Resistance. 



Genus II. — The Perceptive, or Knowing Faculties. 

Species 1. — Intellectual Faculties which take cognizance of the ex- 
istence of external objects, and their physical qualities. 

22. Individuality. 25. Weight. 

23. Form. 26. Colouring. 

24. Size. 



Species 2. — Intellectual Faculties which take cognizance of the 
relations of external objects. 

27. Locality. 31. Time. 

28. Number. 32. Tune. 

29. Order. 33. Language. 

30. Eventuality. 



Genus III. — Reflective Faculties. 
34. Comparison. 35. Causality. 



INTRODUCTION. 



My first ideas of Phrenology were obtained from Dr. Gall 
himself, its founder, whose lectures I attended in Paris 
during the year 1825. Before that time I, in common with 
almost all who are ignorant of the subject, spoke of it with 
great contempt, and took every opportunity of turning it 
into ridicule. The discourses of this great man, and several 
private conversations which I had the honour of holding with 
him, produced a total change in my ideas, and convinced me 
that the doctrines he taught, so far from deserving the absurd 
treatment which they then generally met with, were, in 
themselves, highly beautiful as expositions of the human 
mind in its various phases, and every way worthy of atten- 
tion. Much reflection and many appeals to nature, since that 
period, have satisfied me of their truth. 

Few subjects have encountered such persevering hostility 
as the doctrines in question ; and persons now commencing 
the study can have little idea of the gross insults heaped upon 
its early cultivators by those who pretended to rule public 
opinion in matters of science and literature. Such usage, 
however, is not without many parallels in the history of the 
world. Persecution is the reward of innovation in whatever 
form that appears. To the truth of this assertion the banish- 
ment of Pythagoras, the poison cup of Socrates and the 
dungeon gloom of Galileo bear ample testimony. In our 
own country the sublime discoveries of Newton were long 
a 2 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

violently opposed, and Harvey, for ascertaining the most 
important fact in modern physiology, the circulation of the 
blood, was rewarded with abuse and the loss of his practice. 
In France things were no better — Descartes, one of the 
greatest geniuses that ever lived, having had the charge of 
atheism levelled against him for maintaining the doctrine of 
innate ideas. The stale trick of representing discoveries in 
science as hostile to religion, has, indeed, always been a fa- 
vourite one with the enemies of knowledge, and even in these 
comparatively enlightened times is frequently had recourse 
to by the designing and the ignorant. Nothing is more com- 
mon than to hear modern geology denounced as at variance 
with the word of God, and its cultivators held up as a con- 
clave of infidels ; nor has Phrenology escaped the same absurd 
charge, in the face of the notorious truth, that it is openly 
advocated by some of the most intelligent and pious of our 
clergy, and that the parent Phrenological Society was founded 
by the Rev. Dr. Welsh, Professor of Church History in the 
University of Edinburgh. 1 

Had the hostility to the Phrenological doctrines been con- 
fined to the weak-minded and illiterate, the circumstance would 
have excited no surprise, but at the first announcement of 
the science we find it assaulted on all sides by the learning 



1 " I think it right to declare that I have found the greatest benefit from 
the science as a minister of the Gospel. I have been led to study the evi- 
dences of Christianity anew, in connexion with Phrenology, and I feel my 
confidence in the truth of our holy religion increased by this new examin- 
ation. I have examined the doctrines of our church also, one by one, in 
connexion with the truths of our new science, and have found the most 
wonderful harmony subsisting between them. And in dealing with my 
people in the ordinary duties of my calling, the practical benefit I have 
derived from Phrenology is inestimable." — Rev. Br. Welsh, See Phrenolo- 
gical Journal^ vol. v. p. 1 10. 

" That the religious and moral objections against the phrenological theory 
are utterly futile, I have from the first been fully convinced."— Whatley> 
Lord Archbishop of Dublin. 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

and reputation of Europe. These attacks it has calmly and 
dispassionately met, and who that has surveyed the contest 
will have the hardihood to say that it has not triumphed ? 
A more striking instance of the impossibility of Stirling truth, 
has never been presented to the world, than in the victorious 
struggle of this science. 

One of the most virulent attacks upon the new doctrines 
was made in the 49th number of the Edinburgh Review by 
the late Dr John Gordon, who not contented with unfairly 
misstating them, according to the usual practice of their op- 
ponents, demeaned himself by indulging in acrimonious per- 
sonalities against the characters of Gall and Spurzheim. 
This attack, which in truth displayed nothing but gross 
ignorance and unbounded misrepresentation, was duly met 
and its various delinquencies exposed by the latter of 
these distinguished men. Lord Jeffrey in the 88th number 
of the same able work repeated the assault, only, however, 
to meet with a confutation equally conclusive from the 
pen of Mr. Combe. The attack was elegant, lively and 
satirical, and written in a not ungentlemanly spirit, but the 
accomplished writer lacked knowledge of the subject, and 
fell an easy victim before the well stored armoury of 
facts and reasonings, with which he was encountered by 
his acute antagonist. 2 An elaborate article by Dr. Roget, 

2 Some of the observations in the Edinburgh Review are amusing. 
Take the following as examples : — 

'* To enter on a particular refutation of them, (the opinions of Gall 
and Spurzheim) would be to insult the understandings of our readers." — 
" We look upon the whole doctrines taught by these two modern Peripa- 
tetics, anatomical, physiological, and physiognomical, as a piece of thorough 
quackery from beginning to end ; and we are persuaded that every intelli- 
gent person, who takes the trouble to read a single chapter of the volumes 
before us, will view them precisely in the same light."— "They are a collec- 
tion of mere absurdities, without truth, connexion or consistency, an in- 
coherent rhapsody, which nothing could have induced any man to have 
presented to the public, under pretence of instructing them, but absolute 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

iu the supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, was also 
replied to by Mr. Combe, and from this article having 
been withheld from the new edition of the work, we may 
conclude that neither the doctor nor his publishers were 
satisfied with the success of their experiment. From the 
extensive knowledge of Sir William Hamilton, much was 
expected in the way of opposition, but he fared no better 
than his predecessors. The same may be said of Drs. Stone, 
Barclay, Prichard, Bostock, and in truth, of all who have 
attacked the science. The whole body of crusaders against 
Phrenology are characterized by one curious feature. Each 
individual combatant imagines that he has annihilated the 
doctrines, and that they will never more be heard of; each 
employs the same arguments as if they had never been used 
before; each is in a state of perfect ignorance, with respect 
to the manner in which these arguments have already been 
disposed of; and finally, each invariably gives a false and 
distorted representation of the science. Few of those who 
have written against it, have done so in a generous, truth- 
loving mood. An unaccountable spirit of hatred has con- 
fused their perceptions, and rendered men whose talents 
ought to have made them formidable in the field of con- 
troversy, weak and inefficient as children. Hence, in every 
contest with their opponents, they have been defeated; nor 



insanity, gross ignorance, or the most matchless assurance."—" Such is the 
trash, the despicable trumpery, which two men calling themselves scientific 
inquirers, have the impudence gravely to present to the physiologists of the 
nineteenth century as specimens of reasoning and induction. "—Dr. Gor- 
don, in No. xlix. 

" Every one of course, has heard of Dr. Gall's craniology, and seen his 
plaster heads mapped out into territories of some thirty or forty indepen- 
dent faculties. Long before this time, we confess, we expected to have seen 
them turned into toys for children, and this folly consigned to that great 
limbo of vanity to which the dreams of alchemy, sympathetic medicine, and 
animal magnetism had passed before it." — Lord Jeffrey in No. lxxxviii. 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

has this taken place because the phrenologists possessed 
the advantages of superior talent and logical acumen, but 
simply because they entered the arena backed by truth. 
Without this indispensable ingredient, the . greatest natural 
powers go for nothing in a question of facts, and with it 
the meanest become formidable. 3 

Great progress has been made by the science within the 
last ten years, especially in Great Britain, France, and the 
United States. It has met with considerable success in 
Sweden and Denmark, and has even succeeded in forcing 
its way into Italy. The late Professor Uccelli of Florence 
was a phrenologist. For this heinous offence he lost his 
chair in the university of that city, and was persecuted with 
all the blind malice of bigotry and intolerance. Two of 
the best phrenologists in the north, are Drs. Hoppe and Otto, 
both eminent Danish physicians, the latter Professor of 
Materia Medica, and Medical Jurisprudence in the univer- 
sity of Copenhagen. Berzelius of Stockholm, the most illus- 
trious of living chemists, has become a convert to the science, 
and Andral, Broussais, Cloquet, Bouillaud, Sanson, Voisin , 
Falret, and Vimont, who are among the greatest medical 
characters in the French capital, have done the same. 4 The 



3 Those who intend writing against Phrenology, will save themselves the 
trouble of repeating stale and often confuted arguments, by perusing the 
different attacks made on the science, and the answers which have been made 
to them. A full list of these attacks and replies will be found in an article 
entitled " Phrenological Controversies," in the Phrenogical Journal, vol. 
x. p. 150. 

4 Many other able physicians are also members. Among a multitude of 
non-medical names I find the following, some of them men of considerable 
eminence.— Blondeau, Dean of the Faculty of Law, David, the celebrated 
sculptor, the Duke of Montobello (peer of France), Julien director of the 
" Revue Eneyclopedique",Poncelet, Professor of the Faculty of Law, Comte, 
Professor of Philosophy to the Athenaeum, Royer, Chief Secretary to the 
Administration of the Garden of Plants, Les Cases and Ternaux, members 
of the Chamber of Deputies, &c. &c. 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

conversion of the last of these eminent men is curious, and 
forms a memorable fact in the history of Phrenology. Hav- 
ing attended Gall, he thought he could easily refute his 
doctrines, and for this purpose made a vast collection of 
specimens, chiefly of skulls of the lower animals ; but the 
very evidence he was thus accumulating for the overthrow 
of the science had entirely the opposite effect. It satisfied 
him of its truth, and led to the publication of his magnificent 
work on " Human and Comparative Phrenology." A Phreno- 
gical Society, numbering among its members many of the 
ablest scientific and literary men of Paris, has for some 
years been in active existence. By this body, a journal, 
exclusively devoted to the subject, and containing many 
admirable papers, is regularly published. Great zeal for 
Phrenology exists in the United States. Dr. Caldwell of 
Lexington, Kentucky, has written with uncommon talent 
upon the subject, and a valuable work entitled " Annals of 
Phrenology " is issued periodically at Boston. In that city 
a Phrenological Library is in the course of publication, con- 
sisting of reprints of all the best works which have ap- 
peared on the science, embodying also a translation, in six 
volumes, of Dr. Gall's unrivalled work Sur les Fonctions du 
Cerveau. Mr. Lawrence, one of the first surgeons and 
physiologists in this country, is favourable to the doctrines. 
In London, they have been supported with great power of 
reasoning by Dr. Elliotson; and such able physicians as 
Mackintosh of Edinburgh, Marsh of Dublin, and Barlow of 
Bath, have not hesitated openly and unscrupulously to 
adopt them. For more than ten years the Medico- Chirur- 
gical Review and Lancet, the ablest medical periodicals in 
Great Britain, have honourably distinguished themselves in 
defence of the same cause. In Germany the science has pros- 
pered less than almost any where else in civilized Europe, thus 
verifying the old adage that "prophets are never esteemed in 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

their own country." Even there, however, the rapid sale of a 
recent translation of Mr. Combe's " System of Phrenology," 
by Dr. Hirschfeld of Bremen, proves that public attention 
has at length been awakened to it ; and there are good 
grounds for believiug that the celebrated Blumenbach, con- 
trary to the general understanding upon the subject, decid- 
edly favours its pretensions. 5 Yet we are told that no 
men of eminence, have become converts to the science. 
The names here recorded sufficiently refute this assertion ; 
and the Phrenological Societies of London, Edinburgh, and 
Paris, can boast of names inferior in talent and reputation 
to none in Europe. Considering the opposition which Gall's 
doctrines have met with, their acceptance by so large a por- 
tion cf the public, is matter of wonder rather than otherwise. 
Newton's sublime discoveries met with no such prompt recep- 
tion. They were long acrimoniously opposed in his own 
country, and at his death, more than forty years after the 
publication of the Principia, he had not above twenty fol- 
lowers on the Continent. 6 

The advance which Phrenology has made against the vast 
difficulties it has had to encounter, is indeed matter of con- 
gratulation, but much remains yet to be achieved. The 
weight of the Universities, and other seats of learning, bears 
strongly against it. There the metaphysics of the schools 
have been entrenched for ages, and will not surrender with- 
out a desperate struggle. The middle-aged and the elderly 
of the existing race, must die out before the new philosophy 
displays its full power. It is among the young, those whose 
minds have not been pre-occupied by other systems, and 

5 See Phrenological Journal, vol. viii. p. 531. 

6 For a complete account of the present state of the science, the reader 
is referred to Mr. Watson's excellent work, entitled " Statistics of Phren- 
ology." 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

whose judgments are yet free and unshackled, that it is 
spreading most triumphantly. Its simple, intelligible and 
eminently practical character fits it admirably for unso- 
phisticated youth, and it is pleasing to behold the steady 
progress which it is making among the young of both sexes. 
Even into colleges it is finding an entrance. Students in 
the metaphysical classes are beginning to imbue their essays 
with phrenological doctrines, either openly or in disguise, 
to the great horror of their professors, some of whom have 
thought fit to denounce, ex cathedra, the hundred-headed 
monster which has thus presumed to show its detested pre- 
sence within the walls of Alma Mater. 

Some people declare that they believe in the general 
principles of Phrenology, but not in its details. It would 
be far better to reject the science altogether, than indulge 
in such unmeaning perversion of language. All general 
principles are made up from details, and if the latter are 
faulty so must be the former. To say that we believe 
in the integrity of a whole, yet deny the soundness of 
the parts composing it is a pure absurdity. What would 
be thought of that man's intellect who acknowledged a 
certain ship of war to be perfectly sound and sea-worthy, 
and yet declared the timbers of which it was constructed 
to be rotten ? To admit the principles of Phrenology, and 
yet deny the details which give these principles existence, is 
not less preposterous. 

It has been objected to the science that certain erudite 
bodies have expressed their disbelief in it. When, however, 
it is known that these bodies know little or nothing of its 
true character, this objection will not, with any man of sense, 
weigh a single straw in the balance. Newton's discoveries were 
not proved to be false, because the University of Oxford 
resisted them for half a century. The opinions of all the 
learned associations in Europe, are valueless upon a subject 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

of which they are ignorant. Nor is the objection, that the ma- 
jority of medical men are hostile to Phrenology better founded. 
Let it not be forgotten, that the most eminent members of 
the profession long opposed the doctrine of the circulation 
of the blood, now universally admitted by physiologists. 
On a matter which he has never studied, the opinion of a 
medical man is no better than that of another person ; and 
the general ignorance of the profession regarding Phren- 
ology, is too well known to require demonstration. The 
existing race of medical students, however, are beginning 
to pay due attention to it; and, by and by, a knowledge of 
the subject will be so generally diffused among practitioners, 
that he who is deficient in this respect, will be considered 
to have neglected an important branch of his professional 
studies. The light which this science throws upon the 
physiology and pathology of the brain, and especially on 
the numerous class of mental diseases, is immense, and can 
only be appreciated by those who have turned their atten- 
tion to it. 

The superiority of the phrenological doctrines over every 
previous system of mental philosophy, consists in this — that 
their truth can be demonstrated with the same facility as 
any fact in nature, and that their bearings on the practical 
workings of life are equally susceptible of demonstration. 
Unlike scholastic metaphysics, they are not built in the 
clouds, but have a tangible base to rest upon. Unlike them, 
they are not mere barren speculations, but can be turned to 
good account. If we look to the old philosophy, we find 
its cultivators talking of perception, memory, judgment, and 
imagination, as constituting the primary mental powers, and 
using the machinery of attention, association, and habit, to 
solve every obstacle which stood in their w r ay. If a man 
had great difficulty in nicely discriminating shades of colour, 
it was owing to an early want of attention ! If he were fond 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

of music or poetry, this resulted from association ! If he were 
capable of great concentrated application, this had its origin 
in habit ! In short, perception, memory, judgment, and imagi- 
nation, are to the sound philosophy of the mind what the 
four elements of fire, air, earth, and water are to modern 
chemistry; while attention, association, and habit may be 
said to represent Phlogiston, that convenient agent by 
which every difficulty was at once got rid of. It is no 
proof of the soundness of this crude theory, that it was 
adopted by great names. In the dawn of every science, 
talents of the first order often got widely astray. Roger 
Bacon, Albertus Magnus, Raymond Lully, Van Helmont, 
and Paracelsus believed in the Elixir Vitae and the Philoso- 
pher's Stone; and, till a comparatively recent period, the Stah- 
lian theory was in general acceptation among chemists. The 
same holds true with the philosophy of mind. Previous to 
Gall's great discovery, no proper method of investigating 
mental phenomena was known to metaphysicians, and gross 
errors and misconceptions consequently existed. We were 
gravely told, that the human mind was like a sheet of blank 
paper, on which any impression could be made; that all 
men were by nature precisely alike, and that variety of 
talent and disposition depended upon circumstances. The 
currency which such doctrines obtained, demonstrates a 
state of ignorance with respect to the mind, not inferior to 
that of physical science which existed in the days of the 
alchymists. Gall was the first person who laid the axe to 
the root of this barren tree, and planted a better in its 
place. If any man proceeded upon the strictest principles 
of the inductive philosophy, it was this illustrious individual. 
His inferences were sternly deduced from facts which came 
under his notice, and no one was ever less of a theorist. 
The method upon which he proceeded, has been rigidly 
followed by his disciples; and though none of them 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

have equalled their master in originality or grasp of mind, 
they may at least lay claim to the merit of being actuated 
by the same spirit of investigation, and of endeavouring, 
like him, to draw their knowledge directly from the book of 
nature. If they have failed, the fault is chargeable upon 
their own want of acuteness, and not upon the mode had 
recourse to by them, for the purpose of eliciting truth. 

As people get acquainted with Phrenology, and the 
vast number of important points on which it bears, the op- 
position which it has hitherto encountered will gradually 
cease. This consummation is fast taking place, even already. 
Converts are daily flocking to its ranks, and those who still 
stand aloof are beginning to speak of it with some degree 
of respect. The hostile efforts of the press will, for a time, 
continue to check its onward march, but those are rapidly 
giving way before increasing knowledge. In the meantime, 
some of the public prints abound with ingenious inventions 
to its prejudice. Every paragraph is eagerly inserted if it 
only bear against Phrenology. We are daily told of blun- 
ders committed by expert Phrenologists, in their attempts to 
predicate character, from examination of the head. 7 If a 
notorious criminal is executed, we may calculate on being 

7 For example, the story of Dr. Spurzheim and the bust of Lord Pom- 
fret, as exposed in the sixth volume of the Phrenological Journal ; or the 
equally veracious one of Mr. Combe being- imposed upon by a cast moulded 
from a Swedish turnip. There is no end to such impudent fictions. The 
alleged blunders of expert phrenologists are, in fact, mere weak inventions 
of the enemy, for the purpose of demolishing by fraud what they cannot en- 
counter by fair argument. There have not even been awanting instances 
of individuals writing out characters, the very reverse of their own, and 
palming them off as phrenological failures. I know an instance of this kind, 
and another is related by Mr. Combe in his letter to Lord Jeffrey. Talking 
of the Swedish turnip, the facetious personage who made the unsuccessful 
attempt to play off this hoax against Phrenology, has since studied the 
science, and become a complete convert to its truth. See page 13 of that 
interesting volume, entitled " Selections from the Phrenological Jowrnal?* 
recently published. 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

informed that he possessed a splendid development, and so 
forth ! Lacenaire, the assassin of sixteen individuals, had y 
we were told, such a formation of head as Gall would have 
assigned to a mild, kind-hearted, religious character. Hare 
was formidable in the regions of Benevolence and Ideality, 
and Fieschi remarkably deficient in those of Firmness and 
Destructiveness ! All such stories are idle inventions, with- 
out a particle of truth, but they serve the intended purpose 
of imposing upon the unwary, and exciting a hostile feeling 
towards Phrenology. 

In whatever way we view this science, its tendency is 
excellent. It is eminently useful to the medical practitioner, 
by turning his attention forcibly to the state of the brain 
and whole nervous system, in health and disease — to those 
who have the charge of lunatics and criminals — to those 
concerned in the administration of justice 8 — to parents, in 
the intellectual, moral, and physical management of their 
children, and, in short, to every class of society. Grievous 
errors in education, in the treatment of malefactors, and in 
what are called mental diseases, are constantly committed, 

8 Were Phrenology known, as it ought to be, by judges and public pro- 
secutors, we should not behold the revolting spectacle of lunatics perishing 
on the scaffold, as is too often the case in Great Britain ; nor medical men 
giving it as their opinion, that the unfortunates who have so perished were 
responsible agents. There is something appalling in the thought of inflict- 
ing death on creatures whom God has stricken with idiocy or derangement, 
merely because those who try them, and those who testify to their fitness for 
being put upon trial, are ignorant of the nature of their malady. No man 
can now doubt, that Barclay who was hanged at Glasgow, and Howison 
who suffered the same fate at Edinburgh, were disordered in intellect to a 
degree which placed them beyond the pale of responsibility. The light 
thrown by Phrenology on Mental Derangement is most valuable, and will, 
in time, be so reflected upon Criminal Jurisprudence as to render such 
dreadful misapplication of the law a rare, or rather an impossible, occur- 
rence. In the third and tenth volumes of the Phrenological Journal, there 
is some valuable information on the subject of Insanity and Crime. See also 
Dr. Combe's work on Mental Derangement, and the treatises on the same 
subject by Burrows, Conolly, and Esquirol. 



INTRODUCTION. 2i 

from ignorance of the light thrown by Phrenology upon 
these important subjects. A science which is able to ac- 
complish all this cannot be a trivial one; and time, the great 
arbiter, will yet render it ample justice, when every thing 
which has been said and written against it is utterly for- 
gotten. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 



What is the material organ of the mind? 

The brain. The mind requires a material apparatus to 
work with ; the brain is this apparatus. The brain itself, 
however, is not alleged by phrenologists to be the mind, any 
more than a musical instrument is music, the tongue taste, 
or the ears hearing. When the strings of a harp or violin 
are touched in a particular manner we have music. When 
the brain is in certain states we have displays of the mental 
faculties. Of the mind, as a separate entity, we can know 
nothing whatever, and we must judge of it in the only way 
in which it comes under our cognizance. 9 

What reason is there to infer that the mind is manifested 
through the medium of the brain? 

We have undoubted evidence of this in the following and 
many similar facts. When a person receives a violent blow 
on the head — when blood or any other fluid presses upon 
the brain — or when a portion of the skull is beaten in — in- 
sensibility is a frequent, or rather a general occurrence. 



9 " The mind sees through the medium of the eye, just as it thinks or feels 
through the medium of the brain ; and as changes in the condition of the eye 
deteriorate or destroy the power of vision, without any affection of the prin- 
ciple of mind, the obvious inference follows, that, in like manner, may 
changes in the condition of the brain destroy the power of feeling or of think, 
ing, and yet the mind itself, or soul, remain essentially the same."— -Dr. 
Combe on Mental Derangement* 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 23 

A dose of opium, by acting on the brain, suspends the phen- 
omena of mind; in like manner, when the brain is inflamed, 
the mental operations are disturbed. Did the mind act 
independently of the brain, no physical injury or irritation 
of the latter should have any effect upon the faculties ; 
whereas, we find that the reverse is the case. Insanity, in 
fact, is nothing but cerebral disease inducing disordered 
mental manifestations. Finally, when the brain is extremely 
small, idiocy is the invariable result. Such a form of head, 
for instance, as is represented in the following sketch, is in- 
compatible with the most ordinary degree of intelligence. 
The subject of the engraving was an idiot girl, aged four- 
teen, whom Dr. Spurzheim saw in Cork. The extreme 
deficiency of brain is very obvious. 




Does the mind consist of one faculty or of several? 

Undoubtedly of many. We have the passions of fear, 
love, attachment, pugnacity, &c. ; the sentiments of benevo- 
lence, veneration, justice, &c. ; besides a variety of other 
qualities, such as the powers of music, calculation, causation, 



24 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 



and many others. All these powers, susceptibilities, and 
emotions of the mind are called faculties ; each is distinct* 
and possessed by different individuals, in different degrees. 

Since the mental faculties are so varied, how can a single 
viscus like the brain manifest them all? 

There is irresistible evidence to demonstrate that the 
brain is not a single organ, but in reality a congeries of 
organs, so intimately blended, however, as to appear one. 
Each of these is the seat of a particular mental faculty; so 
that, as the whole mind acts through the medium of the 
whole brain, so does each faculty of the mind act through 
the medium of a certain portion of the brain. Thus, there 
is a part appropriated to the faculty of Tune, another to 
that of Imitation, and so on through the whole series. The 
brain, in short, as Dr. Spurzheim observes, " is not a simple 
unit, but a collection of many peculiar instruments." 

Upon what evidence do you found these assertions ? 

The evidences are numerous. Were the brain a single 
organ, of which every part was employed in the manifesta- 
tion of all the mental faculties, there could be no such thing 
as monomania, or madness on one point: if a portion of the 
brain were diseased, the whole mind should suffer; whereas, 
we often find that one faculty is insane, while all the others 
are perfectly sound. In like manner, fatigue of one organ 
should exhaust the whole, but we do not find this to be the 
case; for after overtasking the reflecting powers, we may be 
fully prepared to call others, such as Tune, Imitation, &c. 
into energetic activity. Dreaming, likewise, is inconsistent 
with the supposition that the brain is a single organ. If it 
were so, we should be either complete^ awake or com- 
pletely asleep; whereas, in dreams, one or more faculties 
are in operation, while the rest continue in perfect repose. 
The perversion in madness, and the wakefulness in dream- 
ing, of certain faculties, cannot otherwise be explained, than 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 25 

by supposing that each of these has a separate locality 
in the brain. It is only on the same principle that partial 
genius can be accounted for. 

These are certainly strong proofs, but are there no others 
of a more direct and tangible description ? 

Many such. It is sufficient to mention that if, in a healthy 
brain, any particular portion is very much developed, the 
individual will be found to possess a more than usual energy 
in some particular faculty. Take, for instance, two heads, 
as nearly as possible alike in their general configuration, but 
differing strongly in shape at a certain part; the persons to 
whom they belong will be found to resemble each other in 
disposition, except in so far as the faculties connected with 
the organ or organs which lie at that part are concerned : 
here their characters will differ most materially. 10 

What is the science called which teaches all this? 

It is denominated Phrenology, the merit of discovering 
which, and reducing it into a system, is due to the celebrated 
Dr. Gall of Vienna. Dr. Spurzheim, his disciple and asso- 
ciate, has also done much to extend and improve the science, 
which has been still farther advanced by the labours of Mr. 
Combe, and other ingenious men in this country and on the 
continent. 

What were the circumstances which led Dr. Gall to the 
discovery ? 

They were partly accidental, and partly owing to the in- 

10 Sibbern, the celebrated professor of Logic in the University of Copen- 
hagen, expresses himself as follows :— " If, upon the whole, the brain is such 
an organ for the mind, that the latter cannot act without the former, but is 
disturbed whenever the brain is morbidly affected, certainly nothing can be 
objected to the principle in Dr. Gall's doctrine, that certain faculties of the 
mind require certain modes of action in the brain, and have their appropriate 
organs in it. To assert that a talent for mathematics requires a special or- 
gan in the brain, is no more singular than to assert that thinking, in general, 
requires a well organized brain. Psychologically considered, Dr. Gall's 
doctrine is not at all improbable." 

B 



■26 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

tuitive sagacity and excellent powers of observation pos- 
sessed by that remarkable man. While a mere boy at 
school, he observed that such of his fellow-pupils as had 
prominent eyes were those with whom, in matters of scholar- 
ship, he had the greatest difficulty in competing. He might 
surpass them in original composition ; but in exercises of 
verbal memory they left him far behind, and were invariably 
the best scholars. On leaving school and going to the uni- 
versity, he observed the same rule to hold good. The " ox- 
eyed " students, as they were called, always bore away the 
palm whenever the acquisition of languages was concerned. 
This fact struck him forcibly, but for a long time he knew 
not what to make of it. Some time afterwards, he had 
occasion to remark that one of his acquaintances, with 
whom he used to ramble in the woods, never lost his way, 
which Gall himself frequently did. This young man had 
two very marked prominences on his forehead, just above 
the root of the nose, while with Gall there were no such 
protuberances. On extending his observations, he found 
that persons so characterized acquired with great ease a 
knowledge of localities — that they found their way almost 
intuitively, as it were, in any route, however complex, if 
they had been there once before; and that those who wanted 
the marks in question had great difficulty in so doing. 
After reflecting deeply, he came to the conclusion that these 
differences of talent might depend upon the size of particu- 
lar parts of the brain. This happy idea having once sug- 
gested itself, he followed it up with admirable skill and in- 
defatigable perseverance, and at last ascertained distinctly, 
that the strength of the mental faculties is, ceteris paribus, 
in proportion to the size of those compartments of the brain 
by which they are manifested. 

One man, then, with a certain organ larger than it is in 
another, will possess the faculty belonging to it in greater 
vigour? 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 27 

IVlost certainly; — supposing the brains of both to be 
equally healthy, their temperaments the same, and the 
circumstances in which they have been placed, equally 
favourable for the excitement and cultivation of the parti- 
cular faculty. 11 It is obviously as impossible for a person 
with a great deficiency of the organs of the moral senti- 
ments, such as Benevolence and Conscientiousness, to be a 
virtuous character, as it is for the brain of an idiot to dis- 
play the splendid intellect of a Milton or a Cuvier. 

A large brain, therefore, other circumstances being equal, 
will be superior in power to a smaller one ? 

Facts place this beyond a doubt. A large-brained person 
acquires a natural ascendancy over another, whose cerebral 
system is smaller. A nation of small-brained people is 
easily conquered, and held in subjection; witness the facility 
with which the small-headed Hindoos were subjugated, and 
the extreme difficulty experienced in overcoming the Caribs, 
whose brains are large and active. The large size of the 
Scotch brain was probably one of the causes which rendered 
the permanent subjugation of Scotland by the English im- 
possible. No man acquires a supremacy over masses of his 
fellow-men without a large head. The head of Pericles, 
who wielded at will the fierce democracy of Athens, was of 

11 The degree with which an organ will manifest its power, depends 
greatly upon the circumstances here mentioned. Temperament, in particu- 
lar, has a powerful influence on the cerebral activity, and must be carefully 
borne in mind. There is another circumstance which modifies the vigour 
of an organ's manifestations, and that is the size of the organ in reference 
to others in the same head. If two men, for example, have the same abso- 
lute size of the organ of Tune, (the temperaments being similar) the natu- 
ral strength of the faculty will be equal in each; but should Tune, in the. 
one case, be the largest intellectual organ, then there will be a considerable 
difference in the manifestation of musical power. The first person will 
cultivate his organ of Tune almost exclusively, and thus greatly increase 
its energy: the other may cultivate it to some extent, but having other 
faculties still stronger, he will exert them more, and thus the naturalcapa- 
bilities of his Tune will never be brought fully out. 



28 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

extraordinary size. Mirabeau, whose thunders shook the 
National Assembly of France; Danton, who rode like an 
evil spirit on the whirlwind of the French Revolution; 
Franklin, who guided, by the calm power of his wisdom 
and virtue, the legislature of America, had all of them 
heads of uncommon size. That of Mirabeau is spoken 
of as enormous, and he is known to have possessed in- 
credible force of character, as well as distinguished talent. 
Without great size of head, Mr. Q'Connell never could have 
impressed himself so forcible as he has done upon the present 
age. There is not a single instance of any one with a 
small or moderate-sized brain wielding multitudes like the 
Irish "Agitator," or grappling triumphantly with the dangers 
of a troubled age, like the iron-hearted Cromwell, or raising 
himself from a private station to the most splendid throne 
in Europe, like the Emperor Napoleon. To accomplish 
such feats, not great intellect merely is demanded, but com- 
manding force of character, arising from unusual size of 
brain. 12 

What is the average weight of the brain? 

The brain, at birth, weighs, according to Meckel, about ten 
ounces. The usual weight of the male adult brain he estimates 
at three pounds fi\e ounces and a half. 13 According to Virey 



12 Men in authority, such as military and naval commanders, governors 
of work-houses and prisons, managers of large establishments, magistrates 
and schoolmasters, should all have large heads; otherwise, let their moral 
qualities and talents be what they may, they will fail of insuring ready and 
spontaneous obedience. The power of mind derived from a large brain 
makes its possessor be feared and respected, while a small-brained person is 
felt to be feeble and ineffective. The wrath of the first is formidable, that of 
the other only excites laughter. 

13 Dr. Elliotson presented to the London Phrenological Society, the 
cast of the head of a male idiot, aged eighteen years, which measured only 
sixteen inches in circumference, and seven inches and three quarters from 
ear to ear, over the vertex. The cerebrum weighed but one pound seven 
and a half ounces, and the cerebellum but four ounces ; in all one pound 






GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 29 

that of the female is three or four ounces less. Farther ob- 
servations, however, are necessary, to ascertain the average 
difference in this respect between the sexes, although the 
fact is undeniable, that, generally speaking, the female brain 
is the smaller of the two. 

Does the female brain differ in any other particular from 
the male f 

It does. Certain portions are larger and others smaller. 
Generally speaking, a woman's skull and brain, are longer 
in proportion to their breadth than those of a man. This 
point may readily be ascertained by taking even a cursory 
glance at the heads of the two sexes. 

What follows when an organ is remarkably small? 

Extreme feeblenes of the faculty which is connected with it. 

May not a large-brained person be an idiot f 

Unquestionably ; but in such a case the cerebral structure 
is in a morbid state. Generally speaking, however, when 
a full-sized brain gets diseased, there exists some active form 
of derangement, and not idiocy. 

Will the exercise of an organ increase its size ? 

It is so maintained by some phrenologists, but a sufficiently 
large body of facts appears still wanting to set the matter 
completely at rest. If we work an organ vigorously, es- 
pecially during youth, it is not unreasonable to suppose that 
its bulk may be thereby augmented; the analogy of the 
muscles favours such a conjecture. At all events, it is cer- 
tain, that the energy and activity of the organ will be great- 
ly increased. The lapse of ages of civilization, in any 
country, will, very probably, improve the form and quality 
of the national brain, by the continued action which this state 

eleven ounces and a half. Compare this with the brain of Cuvier which 
weighed three pounds ten ounces four drachms and a half. Where the 
circumference of the adult head is under seventeen inches, mental imbecility 
is the inevitable consequence. 



30 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

of society confers on the moral and intellectual organs, and the 
comparative inactivity in which it keeps the lower propen- 
sities. 14 The skulls of our ancestors, which have been dug up, 
give indication of an inferior moral and intellectual organiz- 
ation, and of stronger propensities than are presented by the 
average of heads at the present day. 

May an organ be well developed, and yet incapable of 
manifesting its faculty in a powerful degree? 

This may occasionally happen in consequence of a general 
or partial want of energy in the brain. It is most likely 
to occur in persons of a lymphatic temperament, where the 
cerebral circulation is carried on with little vigour. Some- 
times a single organ becomes apathetic, while the rest are 
healthy. Isolated cases of this description form* no objec- 



14 In the article " Hydrocephale," in the twenty-second volume of the 
" Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales," it is stated, that the heads of great 
thinkers frequently increase till fifty years of age. According to Itard, the 
head of Napoleon, which acquired an enormous development, was small in 
youth. The fact seems pretty well established, that if the brain is not exer- 
cised, it may actually diminish in bulk. In long protracted madness, it 
seems often to diminish, especially in the intellectual regions. Such was 
probably the case with Dean Swift, who, for some years before death, was 
in an imbecile state of mind. The portraits of that great man represent his 
forehead as much larger than it appears in his skull. Esquirol mentions 
the case of an insane female, whose forehead, on her admission into the 
hospital, was so large that he had a drawing made of it, but afterwards it 
became small and narrow. In the Phrenological Journal vol. iv. p. 495, 
the case of a deranged person is recorded, where the same event occurred. 
" His head increased in size during the progress of his insanity, and to such 
an extent that he observed the circumstance himself, and said that he 
required a smaller size in each successive hat that he purchased. His intel- 
lectual faculties were obviously feebler in the latter years of his life, for he 
became incapable of collecting money by presenting receipts, and per- 
forming some other little pieces of business which in former years he had 
accomplished, and his forehead very perceptibly diminished and retreated 
during the corresponding period. He accounted for the decrease in the 
size of the hats he required by ascribing it to the sublimation of his brain : 
he said he was becoming purely ethereal, and that the grosser particles of 
his head were evaporating daily." 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 31 

tion to Phrenology, but rather prove its truth, in so far as 
they demonstrate that vigorous results cannot be expected 
from unhealthy organs. 

Can the natural dispositions and talents of an individual 
be inferred by examination of his brain? 

They can be predicated with great accuracy after such 
an examination ; but it is necessary to take different circum- 
stances into view, such as temperament, education, and 
example, as they modify, to a considerable extent, the char- 
acter. A phrenologist, knowing these modifying causes, 
can speak with great precision after examining the brain. 

Can actions be inferred ? 

No. These depend much on the circumstances in which 
the person is placed. A phrenologist, examining the head 
of Hare, would infer, that his mind was of a low and degraded 
order, that its tendency was towards cruelty and conten- 
tion, and that his pleasures were all of a base kind ; but 
he could not infer that he would necessarily commit murder. 
Hare became a murderer by the force of circumstances. 
He lived many years without committing murder; and 
when he did so, it was to obtain money to gratify his 
grovelling desires. Could he have readily procured money 
otherwise, it is not at all likely that he would have been 
guilty of the crime. Men always act from the strongest 
motives. The motives which induced Hare to murder, were 
unhappily, stronger than the restraining ones, and, therefore, 
he murdered. 15 



15 Some people expect phrenologists to say, by an examination of the 
head, what actions a man will necessarily commit, but this is a childish 
piece of folly. The head of Hare was precisely the same the instant before 
committing his first murder as it was the instant after. All that a phreno. 
logist could affirm on seeing such a head, would be that its owner had an 
organization, accompanied by dispositions which, in particular circumstances, 
would almost inevitably lead him to the commission of some atrocious crime. 
Hare was 36 when he commenced his horrible career. Supposing him to 



32 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

Wherein consists the abuse of a faculty f 

A faculty is said to be abused when it acts in a degree too 
intense, or towards an improper object ; also when it is active 
at an improper time, or in an improper place. 

How are the faculties brought into communication with 
the external world ? 

By means of the external senses. The organs of these 
senses (the ear, the eye, &c.) are connected with the brain 
through the medium of nerves, which convey the impressions 
made upon their respective organs to the cerebral mass, 
and thus give to the mental faculties a cognizance of what is 
occurring from without. 

In predicating character, is it absolutely necessary to 
examine the uncovered brain? 

No. Inferences may, in general, be drawn with great 
accuracy, during life, by examining the external surface of 
the head. 

Does not the skull afford an obstacle to obtaining a correct 
idea of the shape of the brain? 16 



have died at the age of 35 he would not have had the stigma of murder at- 
tached to his name - 3 but nevertheless he must have possessed the same ten- 
dency to commit crime as he manifested at a later period ; and a phreno- 
logist on being shown his head, and not knowing to whom it belonged, 
would infer accordingly, making allowance for the way in which such a 
character would be modified by circumstances. 

16 The reader should make himself acquainted with the general anatomy 
of the skull, otherwise he will be at a loss to understand the references 
occasionally made to its particular parts. The bones of the skull-cap (that 
cavity which contains the brain) are as follows:— 1. The frontal bone, 
which forms the upper and forepart of the head. 2. The occipital bone, 
which forms the lower and back part. 3. The two parietal bones, which lie 
between the frontal and occipital, and form the sides and top of the head. 
4. The two temporal bones, which lie in the temples, and form the lower 
parts of the sides of the skull. 5. The ethmoid bone, which lies in the base of 
the skull, immediately over and behind the nose. 6. The sphenoid bone, 
which lies between the ethmoid and occipital bones, and supports the ceDtre 
of the brain. Ihese bones are united by seams, or sutures. The coronal 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 33 

This happens only in rare cases, and almost always at 
isolated points ; the whole skull is seldom affected. In a 
vast majority of cases, the cranium gives a minutely accurate 
representation of the shape of the brain. In old age, how- 
ever, the skull frequently becomes very thick, occasionally 
very thin, and at other times of very unequal thickness. 
In such cases, the form of the brain cannot be accurately 
ascertained during life. 

Are the form and texture of the skull and brain influenced 
by insanity ? 

This is very frequently the case, especially if the malady 
has been of long continuance. The brain shrinks; its con- 
volutions become narrower, and lose their turgescency. The 
skull, at the same time, becomes very thick, but instead of 
being soft and spongy, as in old age, it acquires great addi- 
tional hardness and compactness of fibre, and has an appear- 
ance not unlike ivory. In two hundred and sixteen heads 
of maniacs, which were opened by Greding, a hundred and 
sixty-seven were very thick, without taking into consider- 
ation those, which, though of no unusual thickness, were 
remarkably hard. Of a hundred furious lunatics the skulls 
of seventy-eight were thick ; and the same was the case 
with twenty-two out of thirty skulls of idiots. In such cases, 
therefore, the cranium does not in general, accurately repre- 
sent the form of the brain, and here we are not to expect 
that just inferences of character can be drawn, any more 
than in very advanced life. 

Is the skull formed before or after the brain ? 

The brain is formed first, and gives shape to the skull, 

suture runs between the frontal and parietal bones, the lambdoidal suture 
between the parietal and the occipital, and the sagittal suture between the 
two parietals, along the centre of the head, stretching from the coronal to 
the lambdoidal suture. The temporal sutures join the temporal bones to 
the parietal, occipital, and frontal bones. The sphenoidal and ethmoidal 
sutures connect these two bones to each other, and to the rest. 

b2 



34 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

which is moulded over it. The process of ossification does 
not commence till the seventh or eighth week of pregnancy, 
and is far from being completed at birth. 

At what period does the brain attain its full size ? 

Great differences of opinion exist with regard to this point. 
According to phrenological writers, the brain does not attain 
its full size till between the twentieth and thirtieth year, 
while, according to Sir William Hamilton and the Wenzels, 
it arrives at its utmost magnitude at the age of seven. In 
such a conflict of totally different opinions, we must regard 
the point as undecided, although it seems incredible, that 
the brains of children of seven, are equal in size to those of 
full-grown men. I, for one, do not believe it. 

After attaining its full size, does the brain ever diminish f 

It does so in very old age, at which time the cranium, as 
already noticed, becomes frequently thicker, its inner layer 
retreating inwards, and either being followed by the outer 
layer, or leaving a considerable thickness of spongy diploe 
between them. 

Is the substance of the brain of the same consistence at 
every period of life f 

No. The infant brain is soft: as we grow older it becomes 
more consistent, and in old age acquires still greater firmness, 

Does Phrenology apply solely to the human race ? 

It does not. The character of a dog is as much influenced 
by the form of its brain as that of a man. 

If a large brain gives greater mental power than a small 
one, why is the brain of the sparrow inferior in size to that 
of the vulture, an animal greatly inferior in sagacity? 

I answer this by stating that the circumstances in the two 
cases are by no means alike, and that we must compare the 
brains of animals of the same species before we can arrive 
at a proper knowledge of the effects of size. A large-brained 
vulture will manifest greater energy than a small-brained 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 35 

one, and so with the sparrow. It is evident that, in con- 
trasting such different animals, circumstances are not the 
same, the organization or constitution of the sparrow's brain 
being different from that of the vulture's, and the intellectual 
organs relatively larger. Compare sparrows with sparrows, 
vultures with vultures, &c, and the truth of the phrenological 
maxim of size being, costeris paribus, the index of power, will 
be made perfectly manifest. These remarks apply to the 
muscular system as well as to the brain — the bodily strength 
of some animals being much greater, in proportion to the 
size of their muscles than that of others of a different species. 
The flea, for example, as Haller has remarked, can draw 
from seventy to eighty times its own weight, whereas a horse 
cannot draw with ease more than three times its own weight. 
But of two fleas, that which has the larger muscles will have 
the greater strength. Again, some birds with small eyes 
have vision keener than birds of a different species with 
larger eyes. In every case, therefore, individuals of the same 
species must be compared. 

Is intellectual power necessarily proportioned to the size 
of the brain as compared ivith that of the body ? 

It is not. The weight of the brain, for instance, to that 
of the body in man, (supposing him to weigh, on an average, 
154 pounds) is about as 1 to 46; in several varieties of the 
ape tribe, as 1 to 22; in the sparrow, as 1 to 25; and in the 
canary, as 1 to 14. Man, therefore, has a smaller brain, in 
proportion to the size of his body, than any of these animals. 
In like manner, the brain of the sagacious elephant is rela- 
tively smaller than that of the goose; and the cerebral mass 
of the intelligent, half-reasoning dog, inferior in bulk to the 
brain of the cat, the rat, the mouse, and some other creatures 
far inferior in intellect. It thus appears, that in con- 
sidering the intelligence of animals, we can ground little on 
the proportion subsisting between the brain and body. 



36 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

Have all nations the same form of brain? 

No. This varies considerably in different countries. The 
African brain differs in shape from the European, and so 
does the Carib and Esquimaux. Even in Europe, the 
same form of brain does not prevail rigidly ; the German 
bfain, for instance, is rounder and less elongated than the 
French. 

Do dispositions ever change ? 

If the form and texture of the brain changes, so neces- 
sarily must the dispositions. The organ marked No. 1. in the 
bust, for example, is of late development, seldom attaining its 
full dimensions till the approach of manhood, when in con- 
sequence of its augmented growth a manifest change takes 
place in the character. The moral and intellectual organs 
also acquire a considerable increase about the same period. 
" It is now for the first time, that youth begin to feel strongly 
the impulse of moral sentiment, realize the force of moral 
obligation, and place ajust estimate on moral conduct. Hence 
they are now recognised, in judicial proceedings, as moral 
agents. And hence, it is by no means uncommon for boys 
who had been previously vicious and unmanageable, to be- 
come now correct and docile." 17 If Mr Deville's experiments 
can be relied upon, we must infer that education and change 
of circumstances may alter the shape of the head. Accord- 
ing to his observation, the change takes place in the situation 
of those organs the sphere of whose activity is increased or 
diminished. 18 

May not character change without a corresponding altera- 
tion in the shape of the head? 

This in a limited sense is true. Circumstances by calling 
into activity organs which have been little exercised, or 
repressing the activity of others that have been much stimu- 

17 Phrenological Journal, vol. vii. p. 497. 18 See Appendix, No. iv. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 37 

lated, may produce a change in the energy of their respective 
functions. Still, in such a case, the character is not radically 
different; it is only partially modified by the force of cir- 
cumstances. Change these, and it will become as formerly. 19 

Can the dispositions of the lower animals be inferred from 
the form of their brain? 

They can. Cruel ferocious animals, such as the tiger, 
and the hyena, have a particular form of brain very differ- 
ent from that possessed by gentle, timid creatures, as the 
fawn and the antelope. The brain of the hawk or vulture 



19 Supposing such men as Charlemagne and Richard Cceur de Lion, to 
have been apprenticed to a haberdasher, they would certainly cut no 
very distinguished figure in this situation ; nay, it is more than probable, 
they would be dismissed on the score of negligence and dulness. Supposing, 
farther, that they are afterwards placed in situations calculated to call into 
play their great military talents, and that they become illustrious warriors, 
their former masters and fellow-shopmen would then call to mind the stu- 
pidity which they displayed behind the counter, and very gravely infer that 
a remarkable change has taken place in their characters. There is no such 
change, however, as is here imagined. While officiating as haberdashers, 
they were out of their element, and the formidable qualities of their minds 
had no room for display. When, however, it came to be a question of 
commanding armies, these qualities were brought into energetic operation, 
and they no longer appeared the same men. Dr. Blair has the following 
just remarks on change of character. "The seeds of various qualities, 
good and bad, lie in all our hearts; but until proper occasions ripen and 
bring them forward, they lie there inactive and dead." "For a while, the 
man is known neither by the world nor by himself to be what he truly is. 
But bring him into a new situation of life, which accords with his predo- 
minant dispositions, which strikes on certain latent qualities of his soul and 
awakens them into action; and as the leaves of a flower gradually unfold 
to the sun, so shall all his true character open full to view. This may, in 
one light be accounted, not so much an alteration of character, produced by 
a change of circumstances, as a discovery brought forth of the real character, 
which formerly lay concealed. Yet, at the same time, it is true that the 
man himself undergoes a change. For the opportunity being given for cer- 
tain dispositions, which had been dormant, to exert themselves without 
restraint, they, of course, gather strength. By means of the ascendancy 
which they gain, other parts of the temper are borne down, and thus an al- 
teration is made in the whole structure and system of the soul." — Blair's 
Sermons. 



38 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

differs in shape from that of the dove. Birds which sing 
have a differently formed brain from those which do not. 20 
A more accurate comparison, however, may be drawn between 
the heads of animals of the same species : thus, there is a 
marked difference in the heads of two horses or dogs, one 
gentle, and the other vicious. 

V/hat organs are we disposed to exercise most? 
Those which are largest. Little gratification is exper- 
ienced in the exercise of the weaker faculties : thus, a man 
who is not at all combative, would feel exceedingly annoyed 
at the idea of being obliged to fight ; while another, with a 
different configuration of brain would feel delight in having 
an opportunity of indulging his favourite propensity. Nor 
is this law confined to the cerebral organs : a man of great 
muscular power is fond of hard exercise ; another of little 
physical energy dislikes it, and is partial to rest. 

Are the habitual attitude, expression, and language affected 
by the predominating organs f 

They generally are. It is seldom difficult to detect by 
his air, carriage, and conversation, when a man is proud, vain, 
bold, timid, or, crafty. These indications are called natural 
language, or pathognomy. Some persons deny its existence. 
When, however, we remind them that sighing, sobbing, and 
groaning are the natural language of grief ; laughter of mirth; 
cursing and stamping with the foot of rage ; and trembling, 
paleness, and speechlessness of fear, they will see the absur- 
dity of their denial. The existence of pathognomy, as con- 
nected with many of the faculties, is too obvious to require 
demonstration, and every man who has paid attention to 
the subject must admit it. By painters and actors it is ac- 
knowledged to the fullest extent. Who does not at once 

20 In many animals, however, we can draw no inference by looking- at the 
head merely. In the elephant, for instance, an immense cavity or sinus in- 
tervenes betwixt the brain and the outer table of the skull 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 39 

recognize the strut of pride, the smirk of vanity, the compressed 
lip and energetic step of firmness, the stealthy glance of cun- 
ning, the upraised eye and lip of wonder, the bland expression 
and kindly tone of benevolence, the looks raised to heaven, 
the clasped hands, and bended knees of veneration ! 

Of how many organs does the brain consist? 

It must consist of as many as there are primitive mental 
faculties. At present, phrenologists admit about thirty as 
distinctly established ; others they speak of as probable; but 
these are not to be regarded as constituting the whole series. 
There are portions of the base of the brain whose functions 
are yet to be discovered. 

Are the organs single or double ? 

As the brain is double, so is every organ ; each has its 
fellow on the opposite side. There are thus, strictly speak- 
ing, about sixty organs ascertained, but as an organ on one 
side co-operates with its fellow on the other, it is customary 
to speak of the two as one, seeing that they manifest only a 
single mental quality. 

May the brain be wounded or diseased on one side, and 
yet none of the mental faculties suspended ? 

Undoubtedly. If the organ of Tune, for instance, is injured 
on one side, its fellow on the other not being impaired, the 
faculty will continue to be manifested, although, as is natural 
to suppose, with less vigour than when both organs were 
perfectly sound ; and the same law holds with regard to all 
the other organs, just as a person can still hear tolerably 
well with one ear, although the sense is quite lost in the other. 
But injury, of one side of the brain generally affects the 
other sympathetically ; although the fact that it some- 
times does not, and that the faculties go on not much im- 
paired, is a sufficient proof both that there is a plurality of 
organs, and that the organs are double. 21 

21 Careless observers often bring it as an argument against Phrenology 



40 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

Are we always to expect a prominence or bump when a 
particular organ is large ? 

No. If several adjoining organs are all large, none of 
them will, probably, present any particular projection : there 
will be merely a general fulness in the locality occupied by 
them. It is only when an organ decidedly predominates 
over those in its immediate vicinity, that a protuberance is 
to be looked for. An inexperienced phrenologist has much 
difficulty in estimating the size of organs, where there is 

that in cases of diseased brain, the mind is not at all affected, when some of 
its functions are in reality materially disordered. They perceive that the 
person, in common matters, acts perfectly well, that he answers questions 
intelligibly, and hence they conclude that every faculty is entire j whereas, 
if they were to investigate the matter more fully, and task the different 
organs severely, they would perceive in the manifestations of some of them 
a considerable falling off. The above argument, supposing it to be valid, 
would only go to prove that the mind has no connexion with the brain, a 
proposition so absurd that no sane intellect can now for a moment entertain 
it ; but why should the argument bear more against Phrenology, which 
teaches that each faculty of the mind is manifested by a particular part of the 
brain, than against the opposite doctrine that the whole brain is concerned in 
the manifestation of each, faculty ? Cases of extensive disease of the lungs 
and liver are occasionally met with, where respiration and the biliary secre- 
tion are very little affected. In the number for July, 1833, of the Glasgow 
Medical Journal, we are told of a case in the Stilling Dispensary where 
six pounds of fluid were found in the right cavity of the chest, compressing 
the corresponding lung into a mere membrane, a fourth of an inch in thick- 
ness ; and yet during life, breathing, though a little hurried, appeared to be 
fully and perfectly performed, and the man had no symptoms which indi- 
cated in the most remote degree the existence of thoracic disease. What 
would we think if, from such a case, it was attempted to be inferred that the 
lungs were not the organs of respiration. Admirably in this instance as the 
sound lung supplied the part of the diseased one, still it is not to be inferred 
that the respiratory apparatus was capable of sustaining the same effort as 
in perfect health. For ordinary breathing it sufficed almost perfectly, but 
had the person attempted running or any other violent exercise, its inade- 
quacy would then have appeared sufficiently manifest. The same remark 
applies to the brain. In injuries thereof, when the intellect is said not 
to suffer, we must ascertain whether the part injured is really connected 
with the intellect It may appertain to the propensities or sentiments, in 
which case the intellectual powers may not suffer, although the injury is 
considerable. 






) 

GENEEAL PEINCIPLES. 41 

uniformity of surface, and is hence apt to deny the possi- 
bility of practically following* up the science; but one who 
has sufficiently studied it feels no such difficulty. He esti- 
mates the dimensions of the organs correctly, although 
there is not the slightest bulging out of any particular part 
beyond those in its vicinity ; but this requires considerable 
experience, and is not to be learned all at once. 

Does Phrenology admit of exceptions 9 

It does not. A single exception would entirely overthrow 
whatever part of the phrenological doctrine it should be at 
variance with. When an apparent exception does occur, 
it must be attributed to ignorance on the part of the ob- 
server, or to a want of health in the brain. Taking man- 
kind in the mass, a skilful phrenologist will infer character 
with great accuracy in nineteen cases out of twenty. It is 
not pretended, however, that practical Phrenology has yet 
attained to perfection. 22 

How are the faculties classified? 

The faculties are divided into two orders — the Feelings, 

22 The reputation of Phrenology has been often endangered by the abor- 
tive attempts of ignorant pretendera to infer character from examination of 
the head. Before this can be done properly, not only much experience, but 
a good share of tact and analytical talent are necessary. There are two risks 
to be encountered, that of estimating erroneously the size of the different 
organs, and that of drawing faulty conclusions from the estimate, even sup- 
posing it to be true. Spurzheim was 3trongly opposed to the practice, now 
so much in vogue, of indiscriminately inferring character from examination 
of the head. Where the character is a marked one, the science may be 
benefited by observing how far the talents and dispositions correspond with 
the form of brain possessed by the individual j but how seldom is it that we 
meet with marked characters ! These observations are the more necessary, 
as there are a set of phrenological quacks, who, on all occasions, undertake 
to tell the character of any person, however common-place. Such preten- 
ders naturally fall into errors, and an outcry is immediately raised that 
Phrenology is false. With the same reason might it be said, that there is 
no truth in Davy's allegation that the alkalies possess metallic bases, be- 
cause the fact could not be demonstrated experimentally by some bungler 
in Chemistry. 



4*2 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

or Affective Faculties, and the Intellect. These, 
again, are divided into Genera — the Feelings into the 
Propensities and Sentiments, and the Intellect into the 
Perceptive and Reflective Faculties, This arrangement is 
not unobjectionable, but in the present state of our know- 
ledge, a perfectly accurate classification of the faculties 
cannot be attained. 






ORDER I.— FEELINGS OR AFFECTIVE 
FACULTIES. 

What are the feelings, or affective faculties? 

They may be described simply as those faculties which 
give rise to affections or emotions, and which neither know 
nor reason. They are, in themselves, mere blind impulses, 
and unless governed by the intellect are apt to run into the 
grossest abuses. Thus Destructiveness, without such guidance, 
may lead to indiscriminate violence and massacre, Venera- 
tion to the worshipping of images instead of the true God, 
Adhesiveness to attachment to worthless characters, Self- 
Esteem to exorbitant pride, and Love of Approbation to 
overweening and ridiculous vanity. 

GENUS I. — PROPENSITIES. 

What is a propensity f 

The term Propensity, is applied by Dr. Spurzheim, to 
those affective faculties which produce only desires or inclina- 
tions, and which likewise prompt to certain corresponding 
modes of action. The classification of the faculties, however, 
is not altogether in accordance with this definition. 

1. AMATIVENESS. 

Where is this organ situated, and what is its function? 

The cerebellum, or little brain, which lies in the lower and 
posterior portion of the skull, immediately under the cere- 
brum, or brain proper, and behind the top of the spinal 
marrow is the seat of the amative propensity. This point 
is now universally admitted by physiologists, and is sup- 
ported by so many facts that it can no longer be doubtful. 
The effects of cerebellar disease in calling the sexual feeling 



44 



AMATIVENESS. 



into vehement action, demonstrate conclusively that the 
latter has its seat in the particular part of brain alluded 
to. The great purpose served by Amativeness is the con- 
tinuance of the species. 23 

What external indications are presented when the organ 
is very large? 

There is much fulness at the back and lower part of the 
head, an unusual distance between the mastoid processes, 24 
and great thickness of the neck. Subjoined is an engraving 
of the Emperor Caracalla's head, in which the rotundity and 
thickness of neck, and its extent backwards from the ear 
will be observed. It represents a very great development 
of the organ in question. 




23 The circumstances which led Dr. Gall to the discovery of the organ 
are curious, and are fully detailed in his own great work, and in the writ- 
ings of Dr. Spurzheim. 

24 Those hard prominences immediately behind, and at the root of 
the ear. 



AMATIVENESS. 45 

Is the organ larger in men than in the other sex f 
It is so in most cases. Women in whom it is large, 
are more easily seduced than those with a small de- 
velopment : it is generally very full in those unfortunate 
females who walk the streets, and gain a livelihood by 
prostitution. In what are called " ladies' men" the organ 
is small. These individuals feel towards women precisely 
as they would to one of their own sex. Women intuitively 
know this, and acquire a kind of easy familiarity with them 
which they do not attain with men of a warmer com- 
plexion. 25 
In what state is the organ at different periods of life f 
In childhood it is very small, not only absolutely but 
relatively. At birth, the cerbellum to the rest of the brain 
is as 1 to 13, 15, or 20. In adults as 1 to 6, 7, or 8. In 
some, however, it is much less. The organ increases rapidly 
on the approach of manhood, and at this period, dull pains 
are often experienced in the site of it. In old age, it 
diminishes, like the rest of the brain, but in a greater ratio. 26 



25 Ladies' men have small heads. Self- Esteem is usually small, and Love 
of Approbation well developed. A large brain, especially if Self-Esteem is 
also large, unfits a man for performing the character successfully. 

26 " By the kindness " of Baron Larrey, says Dr. Gall, " I saw a soldier 
Whose antipathy to women degenerated into perfect madness. The sight of 
a woman threw him into fits and rendered him almost furious. Dr. Spur- 
zheim has seen a similar circumstance in England. In each of these indivi- 
duals the cerebellum was exceedingly small. A physician of Vienna, whose 
talents were of a high order, showed a marked antipathy to women, a 
peculiarity which, at the time, we attributed to his love of solitude. Some 
years afterwards he died of phthisis, and, in his otherwise large head, the 
space appropriated for the cerebellum was extremely small. The distance 
from one mastoid process to the other was scarcely three inches : the occipital 
cavities instead of bulging out were partly quite flat, partly even depressed." 
"It has been objected that an organ cannot produce an effect opposite; to 
that of its functions j but is not the stomach the organ of appetite and does 
it not sometimes happen that, in consequence of a weak state of this viscus, 
we have a disgust at any kind of food ? " 



46 AMATIVENESS. 

When does the organ attain its full sizef 

In the male, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six; 
in the female a little earlier. Young lads are generally 
indifferent about female society, and young girls about that 
of men. As the organ in question, enlarges, a change is 
produced in the feelings of the two sexes, and they become 
fond of associating with each other. Women with small 
Amativeness and large Adhesiveness prefer the society of 
their own sex to that of men. To the latter their manners 
seem passionless and frigid ; and even when gifted with 
beauty, they are felt by the opposite sex to be far less inter- 
esting than women to whom nature has granted fewer charms 
of person but a different cerebral conformation. 

What does celibacy generally result from f 

In general, from a small development of this organ, with 
moderate Adhesiveness and Philoprogenitiveness. Persons 
so constituted, even although they can conveniently do so, 
rarely marry. Judging from the portraits of Kant, Newton, 
and Charles XII., the organ of Amativeness seems to have 
been small in the heads of these illustrious men, and the 
strength of the faculty is understood to have been in keep- 
ing with this feeble development. The same remark applies 
to the Right Hon. William Pitt. 27 

Is there any thing particular in the action of this organ, 
as respects the inferior animals f 

There is. In most of them it is periodically excited; 
being at other times in a great measure inactive. 

27 *' Some opponents of the phrenological doctrine affirm, that physical 
love has been found very strong in individuals who have possessed a very 
small cerebellum, or in whom that organ was more or less completely des- 
troyed. I am doubtful how far facts of this kind merit confidence. As for 
myself, I declare that I cannot admit them until they shall have been seen 
by phrenologists; we must look with particular caution on facts which are 
only witnessed by the enemies of a system, especially when we know to 
what lengths designing persons are capable of pushing their falsehoods." — 
Broussais. 



PHIL0PR0GEN1T1VENESS. 



47 



2. PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 

Describe the locality of this organ. 

It lies immediately above Amativeness, in the middle of 
the occiput, and, when large, gives a drooping appearance 
to the back of the head, which projects much, and hangs, 
as it were, over the neck. A large development of the 
organ is shown in the following sketch. 




What is its function? 

To bestow an ardent attachment to offspring, and children 
in general; and, according to some phrenologists, to weak 
and tender animals. 

In which sex is it larger ? 

In the female; and this law extends to the lower animals 
as well as to our own race. Boys exhibit little of it; the 



48 PHILOPROGENITIVENESS. 

case is different with little girls, who show its activity in 
their fondness for dolls, and in their desire to carry children 
in their arms, even when they can scarcely stand under 
their weight. Mary Wolstoncroft denies that girls have, by 
nature, a greater fondness for dolls than boys, ascribing the 
difference to education; but she is clearly mistaken, inas- 
much as the organ on which the love of young depends, is 
decidedly larger in the female head than in the male. The 
fondness of unmarried women, or married women who are 
childless, for cats and lap-dogs, seems to depend chiefly 
upon this organ. 

In which of the lower animals is it peculiarly large f 

In the monkey tribe, whose affection for their young is 
quite remarkable. It was the size of the organ in these 
creatures, coupled with their love of offspring, which led 
Dr. Gall to suspect the faculty to be connected with this 
portion of the brain. 

Do all animals display love of offspring ? 

No. The cuckoo (both male and female) abandons its 
offspring, and leaves them to be brought up by other birds. 
Many male animals take no charge whatever of their young, 
while others do so conjointly with the females. Such is the 
case with the fox, the wolf, the roebuck, the rabbit, and 
various others. 

Does love of children not rather proceed from general 
benevolence ? 

No; for persons who have little of this virtue are often 
passionately fond of children, and others who have a great 
deal of it care not for their society. The most ferocious 
savages are often extremely affectionate towards their 
children. Burke the murderer had a large development 
of this organ, and was very fond of children, and beloved 
by them in return. 

What is the result of a small development? 



PHIL0PR0GEN1TIVENESS. 49 

Indifference to children. It is a great evil when a mother 
is so constituted; for, however estimable she may otherwise 
be, she will find the rearing of her offspring a toil rather 
than a pleasure; and, unless her conscientiousness and pru- 
dence be great, she will be very apt to neglect them. No 
woman will make a good nurse unless well endowed with 
this organ. Women who commit infanticide have generally 
a small development. 28 

Wliat is the result of a great development ? 

An ardent love of children. The person delights to take 
them on his knee, to kiss them, to relate stories to them, to 
play with them, &c. Some of the sternest minds and great- 
est heroes have been distinguished for the strength of this 
feeling. Agesilaus, the warlike monarch of Sparta, used to 
ride on a stick to please his children. On one occasion, 
King Henry IV. of France was seen galloping on all fours, 
one of his children on his back, and the other flogging him 
with a whip. The passion must have been very strong in 
these illustrious men. Children have an intuitive know- 



28 Dr. Spurzheim has examined thirty-seven child-murderers, and in 
thirty of them the organ of Philoprogenitiveness was very small. " In 
■women," says he, " as well as in the females of animals, this propensity has 
different degrees of energy. Certain cows do not suffer their calves to suck ; 
some pigs, cats, rabbits, &c. kill their young, while other females of the 
same kind of animals cry for several days, and refuse to eat, when they are 
bereft of their offspring. It is a lamentable truth that this difference of 
motherly love exists also in mankind. All women do not desire to become 
mothers; some consider their pregnancy as the greatest misfortune. 
Several mothers seek various pretexts in order to remove their children 
out of the hoase. There are others who, being freed from shame, reproach, 
misery, and many inconveniences, by the loss of their illegitimate children, 
yet shed tears for a long time after, at the remembrance of them. Others, 
on the contrary, see their legitimate offspring buried without a pang. 
Thus, it is beyond doubt that natural love of offspring is very weak in 
some women. It is, therefore, wrong to believe that infanticide is a more 
unnatural act than any other murder." — View of the Elementary Principles 
of Education, 2d edit. p. 319. 

C 



50 CONCENTRATIVENESS. 

ledge of persons in whom this organ is large, and come 
to them, as it were, instinctively. 29 

What are the abuses likely to result from too great a 
development of Philoprogenitiveness ? 

If the feeling be excessive, and not regulated by the in- 
fluence of other faculties, the children will be apt to get 
spoiled, and become pert, noisy, unmannerly, and self-willed. 
Philoprogenitiveness sometimes becomes diseased, and then 
there is the most violent love of offspring, with overwhelm- 
ing grief, often terminating in madness, at their loss. 

3. CONCENTRATIVENESS. 

Where is Concentrativeness situated? 

It lies immediately above Philoprogenitiveness, and be- 
low Self-Esteem. 

What purpose is served by this organ? 

It is believed by the Leading Scotch phrenologists to be 
the seat of that power which enables us to direct the in- 
tellect continuously to a particular subject of thought. 
Persons with a large endowment are not apt to be distracted 
from what they are engaged in, by the intrusion of extrane- 
ous ideas. When the organ is disproportionately large or 
active, absence of mind, or abstraction, is the result. 

When deficient, what is the consequence ? 

The individual is remarkable for great volatility of manner, 
and extreme difficulty in directing his mind, for a length of 
time, towards any one subject. He is continually flying 



29 Dr. Gall justly observes, that if in men who have an ardent love 
of children, "the organ of Amativeness is feebly developed, they con- 
sole themselves for the loss of a beloved spouse with a resignation which 
appears very philosophical, while the death of a child plunges them into 
long-continued and inconsolable grief. The barrenness of their wives dis- 
tresses them exceedingly, and often leads them to treat with coldness, 
women who are otherwise unexceptionable." 






CONCENTRATIVENESS. 51 

from topic to topic, and finds it almost impossible to pursue 
a continued train of investigation. Scatter-brained, flighty 
people, are all deficient in Concentrativeness. Good abilities 
may exist, however, along with this deficiency, but in such 
a case they are deprived of half their usefulness and effect. 

Has it the same power over all the faculties f 

Probably not ; it appears to act more influentially on 
some than on others. I conceive, that the faculties con- 
cerned in reasoning and calculation, are, in an especial 
manner, governed by it ; hence metaphysicians, mathemati- 
cians, &c, are peculiarly subject to mental absence. 

Are phrenologists agreed on the functions of this organ? 

No. Dr. Spurzheim conceived it to be the source of 
attachment to particular places; hence he called it Inhabi- 
tiveness. 30 He never coincided with the views of the 
Scotch phrenologists, and by both parties the subject is left 
open for farther investigation. 

Mention a few authors whose writings are distinguished 
hy Concentrativeness, 

Campbell, Pope, and Byron, all display a vigorous con- 
centration of thought and style. In Scott, Coleridge, and 
Southey, there is much less. We may infer (supposing us 
to have properly localised this faculty) a great development 
of the organ of Concentrativeness in such men as Tacitus, 
Thucydides, Reid, Locke, and Brown, and less in Dugald 

30 Amor patrice was supposed by Dr. Spurzheim to result from Inhabi- 
tiveness, but I have never been able to see, that one organ is necessary to 
give attachment to places, and another to give attachment to persons. The 
question has often been asked, Why are mountaineers more ardent patriots 
than the inhabitants of the plains ? Supposing the fact to be true, we are 
not j ustified in inferring, that the former are patriots merely because they 
happen to be mountaineers ; for the real cause maybe, that they are secluded, 
and have little opportunity of getting their views expanded into cosmopoli- 
tanism. The more the intellect is enlightened, the less vivid does that 
ardent attachment to one's natale solum, which often constitutes patriotism, 
become. Savages are the most attached to their native land. 



5'2 ADHESIVENESS. 

Stewart and Beattie. Archimedes, Newton, and Adam 
Smith, must have possessed the faculty in vast energy. 

4. ADHESIVENESS. 

Describe the situation and function of this organ. 

It lies at each side of, and rather above, Philoprogeni- 
tiveness, and is that portion of the brain with which the 
feeling of attachment is connected. No faculty, save Des- 
tructiveness, is displayed more early than this: it is exhibited 
even by the infant in the nurse's arms. When very strong, 
it gives ardent strength of attachment and warmth of friend- 
ship. 

Does this faculty constitute love ? 

Not strictly speaking; for love, in the legitimate sense of 
the word, is a compound of Amativeness and Adhesiveness. 
Such is the love which the lover bears to his mistress, and 
the husband to his young wife. The attachment of a parent 
to his child, or of a brother to his sister, is not, in reality, 
love, but strong Adhesiveness — powerfully aided, in the 
former case, by Philoprogenitiveness. 

Is this faculty more energetic in men or women ? 

Generally in the latter; 31 although in men there are not 



31 "Women are generally more devoted to their friends than men, and 
display an indefatigable activity in serving them. Whoever has gained 
the affection of a woman is sure to succeed in any enterprise wherein she 
assists him : men draw back much sooner in such cases. Frequently in my 
life, have I had occasion to admire in females the most generous zeal on 
behalf of their friends. Who is not astonished at the courage shown by a 
v,oman when her husband, whose misconduct has perhaps a thousand times 
offended her, is threatened with imminent danger ? Who does not know 
many instances of the most heroic devotedness on the part of the sex ? A 
woman spares no effort to serve her friend When it is a question of saving 
her brother, her husband, h.°r father, she penetrates into prisons — she 
throws herself at the feet of her sovereign. Such are the women of our 
day, and such has history represented those of antiquity. Happy, I iepeat, 
is he who has a woman for a friend ! " — Gall. 



ADHESIVENESS. 53 

wanting instances of the most violent attachments, even 
towards their own sex. Such is represented to have been 
the case with Py lades and Orestes, and with Damon and 
Pythias, whose attachment to each other (the result of 
excessive Adhesiveness) defied even death itself. What 
beautiful pictures of friendship between men, have been 
drawn by Homer, by Virgil, and by the sacred writers, in 
the instances of Achilles and Patroclus, of Nisus and 
Euryalus, and of Jonathan and David ! 

Can this faculty co-exist with small Benevolence ? 

Facts prove that it may. Robbers and murderers some- 
times display such wonderful attachment to each other, that 
even the rack has failed to extort from them the names of 
their accomplices in crime. Mary M'Innes, who was exe- 
cuted for murder, had a large development of this organ, 
and displayed its function with great energy on the scaffold. 
Friendship, however, is destitute of much of its lustre, when 
the moral and intellectual sentiments have not the predomi- 
nance in the mind. A warm friend may then easily be 
converted into a mischievous foe. 

Is it subject to abuse ? 

Very frequently it is so. Young women, and sometimes 
young men, are apt to form absurd and romantic attach- 
ments to each other, which, however, being based upon an 
unnatural state of excitement in the organ of Adhesiveness, 
necessarily terminate so soon as the excitement ends; and 
thus, unless there are eminent moral qualities to ensure 
permanence, the feeling is seldom of long duration. When 
a coldness once takes place, mutual antipathy often follows, 
and the quondam friends become bitter enemies. People 
labouring under the strong influence of this organ, are often 
incapable of perceiving any thing like blemish in their 
friends. They clothe them with the attributes of perfection, 
and employ the most extravagant terms of praise when 



j4 COMBATIVENESS. 

speaking of them to others. Clanship, when improperly 
directed, and attachment to worthless characters, are abuses 
of the faculty. 

What is the natural language of Adhesiveness ? 

There is a tendency to turn the head, in the direction of 
the organ, towards the object to whom we are attached. 
Young girls may be seen coming from school with their 
arms thrown over each other's neck, and the sides of the 
head meeting just at the seat of this organ. A mother 
fondling her child, turns the side of her head towards it. 
Two lovers taking a walk arm in arm, incline the head 
mutually in the same way. 

5. COMBATIVENESS. 

Where is this organ situated? 

Between the mastoid process and the organs of Philopro- 
genitiveness and Adhesiveness. It corresponds to the in- 
ferior angle of the parietal bone, and lies immediately 
behind, and on a level with, the top of the ear. 

In what manner does the faculty manifest itself? 

In a love of opposition and strife. It gives boldness to 
the character. The combative man loves danger, meets it 
fearlessly, and triumphs over difficulties, which would over- 
whelm a person in whom the organ was feebly developed. 

In what class of men is the organ large ? 

It is invariably large in great heroes, in determined prize- 
fighters, and in men any way remarkable for active courage. 
The gladiators of Rome must have been largely endowed with 
it. 32 It is remarkably prominent in the skulls of King Robert 
Bruce and General Wurmser who were both pre-eminent 

32 The statues of the gladiators display an ample bulging out in the seat of 
the organ— a proof that the ancients recognized great courage to exist in com- 
bination with a particular form of head. This, of itself, is a striking evidence 
of the correctness of the locality assigned to the organ by phrenologists. 



COMBATIVENESS. 



55 



for valour. It was very large in the head of the French 
General Lamarque, whose courage was remarkable, and 
appears greatly developed in the likenesses of Duguesclin, 
another French warrior, distinguished for his extraordinary 
valour. In the skull of Robert Burns it is very large; 
which accounts, in some measure, for his controversial pro- 
pensities. It was amply developed in Dr. Gall who pos- 
sessed, in a great degree, the quality of personal courage. 
The character of Balfour of Burley, as delineated in 
" Old Mortality," is a remarkable instance of Combative- 
ness, Destructiveness, and Firmness, all greatly developed. 
The same remark applies to the character of Charles the 
Bold, as displayed in " Quentin Durward ." The history of 
Murat, and of Marshal Ney, " the bravest of the brave," 
presents in great perfection the picture of excessive Com- 
bativeness. The organ, when large, is easily discriminated. 




If we compare such a head as that of Duguesclin, in the 
above engraving, with that of a person who dislikes fight- 
ing or contention, a marked difference of shape will be per- 
ceived in the position of the organ. 



56 COMBATIVENESS. 

Is a man with much Combativeness necessarily addicted 
to fighting or other varieties of contention? 

Such is the natural tendency of his mind, although, in 
common circumstances, he may, by means of other faculties, 
keep this one sufficiently under restraint. If Destructive- 
ness is moderate and Benevolence large, some kind of 
harmless contention will be preferred. The former organ, 
however, is very generally large when Combativeness is 
well developed. 

Are all nations equally endowed with this faculty ? 

No. The organ is small in the Hindoo and Peruvian 
heads, and exceedingly large in the Carib; and the dispo- 
sitions of these nations are in perfect accordance with their 
respective developments — the two former being mild and 
unwarlike, the latter immoderately fond of fighting. 

What happens when the organ is too large, or not suffi- 
ciently controlled by others ? 

The consequences are lamentable. The individual is for 
ever engaged in quarrels and getting himself involved in 
difficulties, from his ungovernable love of contention. Should 
Destructiveness be also full, he is very apt to strike on any 
occasion in which he may be offended, g A word and a 
blow " is his favourite maxim. He is a profound admirer of 
the argumentum ad hominem. 

What is the result when the organ is very small f 

In such a case, the person abhors strife and competition of 
every kind, and purposely avoids them. His temper may be 
warm, but he will seldom have courage to display it in the 
form of blows. 

is Combativeness a useful faculty ? 

It is eminently so, by conferring determination and intre- 
pidity of character. " Courage," says Dr. Johnson, " is a 
quality so necessary for maintaining virtue, that it is always- 
respected, even when it is associated with vice." 






DESTRUCTIVENESS. 57 

Are the consequences of a large development as strongly 
marked in the lower animals as in man ? 

They are. The poodle, the pointer, and the spaniel have 
the organ small, the bull dog and the mastiff large; and the 
dispositions of the animals correspond. " Dogs," observes 
Dr. Gall, "that cannot be trained for fighting, have the 
head narrow above, and a little behind the ears; while those 
possessed of much courage are large in this region." In the 
heads of the two dogs represented in the section on Benevo- 
lence, the difference of size in the region of Combativeness 
is very apparent. Cock-fighters and pigeon-fanciers know 
from experience, that a particular formation of head in these 
birds is connected with courage, and another with cowardice. 
This difference exists in the region of Combativenes. 

6. DESTRUCTIVENESS. 

What quality results from this organ ? 

The passion to destroy, and the propensity to inflict pain, 
uneasiness, and injury in general. When uncontrolled by 
Benevolence it prompts to unmitigated cruelty, and the person 
is fierce, passionate, revengeful, and ferocious. When so 
controlled, there is merely much warmth of feeling, irascibility 
without cruelty, and a tendency to be severe on proper 
occasions. 

How is a large Destructiveness known ? 

By a considerable and rounded fulness above the opening 
of the ear, and by width of head at that part. Those 
whose heads are flat in this situation, and narrow above the 
ears, are never destructive. When the external opening of 
the ear is placed very low, it is one sign of large Destructive- 
ness. The skull delineated in the engraving exhibits a 
remarkably large development of this organ. It belonged 
to an incorrigible female thief, of whom Dr. Gall observes, 

c2 



58 DESTRUCTIVENESS. 

that a case will never be met with, in which the organs, 
whose abuse leads to theft, to cunning, and to murder, are 
more amply developed. 




How was the organ first ascertained ? 

Dr. Gall first noticed it by observing the difference at 
this particular situation, between the heads of carnivorous 
and graminivorous animals. In the former the quantity of 
brain in the region of Destructiveness is great; in the latter 
the reverse. 33 

When does Destructiveness first display itself? 

At the moment of birth. The angry cries of the new- 
born child are manifestations of the faculty. 34 

Does a large development communicate any particular 
character to the manner and expression? 

Yes : destructive people have generally a sharp, sparkling 



33 All carnivorous animals are necessarily destructive. Some of them, 
such as the wolf, the fox, the bear, and the lion, kill only to procure food, 
others from a mere blind pleasure in killing", as is the case with the tiger, 
the hyena, the pole-cat, the marten, and the weasel. 

34 An irritable frame is favourable to the activity of Destructiveness; 
hence the frequent ebullitions of temper displayed during the reign of child- 
hood, and also by grown people who labour under bad health. " No man," 
says Lord Bacon, " is angry, who feels not himself hurt : and, therefore, deli- 
cate and tender persons must needs be often angry, they havejso many things 
to trouble them, which more robust natures have little sense of." 



DESTRUCTIVENESS. o9 

eye, a loud and often cutting voice, quickness of movement, 
and energy of character. When engaged in disputation, 
they are apt to get fierce and animated, striking the table, 
as if to enforce their positions, and speaking in a loud and 
irritated manner. 35 

In what class of persons may a large development be ex- 
pected ? 

Distinguished warriors, duellists, sportsmen, and boxers, 
and severe and sarcastic polemics must be well endowed 
with the organ; so must surgeons who are passionately fond 
of operations, and men who, from choice, follow the trade 
of a butcher. In such men as Knox and Luther, it, in 
combination with Combativeness, must have been large. 
It was very large in the head of King Robert Bruce. It 
prompts and gives keenness to satire, and is very perceptible in 
the style of such writers as Pope, Burns, Byron, Swift, and 
Smollett. In the heads of the murderers Hare, Burke, and 
Bellingham, it was large, and it must have been excessive in 
those of Nero, Caligula, Marat, Danton, and Robespierre. 36 

May a virtuous man have this organ as largely developed 
as a murderer? 

He may undoubtedly, but in him there are other faculties 
which keep it in check, and prevent the display of its more 
violent manifestations ; the murderer has no such restraints. 

35 The frequent indulgence in Destructiveness gives coarseness of man- 
ners. " Whence," as Lord Kaimes inquires, " the rough and harsh manners 
of our West India planters, but from the unrestrained license of venting 
ill-humour upon their negro slaves ?" 

36 Calvin, who burned Servetus over a slow tire, for differing with him on 
a point of theology, must have had a large endowment of this organ. Both 
Combativeness and Destructiveness appear very large in the portraits of 
Bonner, Bishop of London, a man of violent charater, and coarse both in his 
manners and language, and who, during the reign of the " Bloody " Mary, 
consigned to the flames no fewer than 200 individuals for their religious 
opinions. Caliban, in Shakspeare's play of "The Tempest," is an incar^ 
nation of pure Destructiveness. 



GO DESTRUCTIVENESS. 

The late Dr. Gregory, and Mr. Abernethy, the distinguished 
and eccentric surgeon, had probably as great a development 
of Destructiveness, absolutely speaking, as Bellingham; but 
in them it was controlled by energetic moral and intellectual 
faculties; while the miserable assassin of Perceval being 
wofully deficient in these, was left to the unbridled sway of 
his lower propensities, and revelled in vice. Thus, although 
the positive size of Destructiveness may not have been greater 
in him than in them, yet its relative magnitude in proportion 
to the organs of the moral feelings, was infinitely greater, 
and hence the criminal tendencies of his depraved mind. 

How do you reconcile the good endowment of Benevolence 
possessed by Thurtell> with his character as a murderer ? 

Thurtell frequently showed traits of benevolent feeling, 
and was, on this account, rather popular with his associates, 
His Benevolence, however, was no match for the excited 
energy of his great Destructiveness, and other animal pro- 
pensities ; and a phrenologist, on examining his head, so far 
from inferring it to be that of an amiable or virtuous char- 
acter would conclude that it belonged to one strongly 
addicted to low indulgences, and, when in a state of excite- 
ment, to acts of violent outrage. . When the propensities 
were not in this excited condition, he would manifest good- 
nature and benevolence, and the annals of his life show that 
he was very capable of kind actions. 37 It is Phrenology alone 

37 Some people foolishly imagine, that when a man is hanged for taking 
away life, he must needs be totally destitute of Benevolence j not reflecting 
that people are always governed by the strongest motives, and that if, in 
an unhappy moment, Destructiveness is so furiously excited, as to over- 
power the counteracting effect of Benevolence, it must lead to violent, and 
frequently fatal, results. Had Thurtell possessed a very poor develop, 
ment of Benevolence, his head would have afforded a strong argument that 
phrenologists were in error respecting the locality of this organ, in so far 
as, in accordance with such a development, his whole actions should have 
been characterized by a destitution of benevolent feeling, which was very 
far from being the case. Moir, who was executed for shooting, in a fit of 



DESTRUCTIVENESS. 61 

which can explain these apparent anomalies of character. 
Men of far higher moral powers than Thurtell, have been 
hanged for murder, committed in a moment of violent passion, 
under the influence of a provoked and ungovernable De- 
structiveness. 33 
Mention a few modes in which the feeling manifests itself 
It is shown in a love of hunting, rat-killing, dog-fighting, 



violent passion, a fisherman who had grossly insulted and outraged him, 
was understood to be a very benevolent man, when his ungovernable tem- 
per was not roused into activity. It would be absurd to expect, in such a 
head, a small organ of Benevolence, and yet he was hanged for murder. 
A man was executed in Glasgow, a few years ago, for stabbing a person by 
whom he was overpowered, in a fight which took place between them when 
half drunk. This man's previous character was not only fair, but excel- 
lent. Mackean, who was hanged at Glasgow for the murder of the Lanark 
carrier, had a pretty fair Benevolence, and, till the commission of this 
crime, his character displayed traits of the feeling, and was not considered 
very bad. He perpetrated the deed in a momentary fit of rage, and his 
Destructiveness was such as would prompt to violence under provocation. 
Had Benevolence been small, the general tenor of his life would have indi- 
cated its feeble influence, but such was not the case. A good development 
of this organ, with preponderating Destructiveness and Combativeness, 
deficient Conscientiousness, and a poor intellect, especially if the person 
moves in depraved society, and is addicted to drinking, will not secure him 
ngainst the commission of gross violence, and, under certain circumstances, 
of murder itself. 

38 Peter the Great was a striking illustration of Benevolence and Des- 
tructiveness— of kindness and cruelty in combination. " Owing to the cir- 
cumstances in which he was placed, and the determination to execute the 
plan he had conceived of remodelling the customs and institutions of his 
country, he had to maintain a constant struggle between his good and evil 
genius. Nothing was too great, nothing too little for his comprehensive 
mind. The noblest undertakings were mixed with the most farcical amuse- 
ments; the most laudable institutions for the benefit of his subjects were 
followed by shaving their beards and docking their skirts. Kind-hearted, 
benevolent, and humane, he set no value on human life. Owing to these, 
and many other incongruities, his character has necessarily been represented 
in various points of view, and in various colours by his biographers." 
" His memory among his countrymen, who ought to be the best judges, and 
of whom he was at once the scourge and the benefactor, is held in the 
highest veneration."— Family Library. 



G'2 DESTRUCTIVENESS. 

and attending public executions. It is told of La Condamine, 
that on one occasion, when he was making efforts to pene- 
trate the crowd assembled to witness an execution, and was 
pushed back by the soldiers, the executioner said, "Let 
the gentleman pass, he is an amateur." The mischievous 
habit of breaking windows, gates, posts, and trees, so common 
in this country, is a manifestation of the faculty: so is the 
common and atrocious crime of fire-raising. A passionate 
child kicks the stool over which it stumbled : this simple act 
proceeds from Destructiveness. People who indulge in abuse 
are all destructive. Cursing and swearing are displays of 
the propensity. Xantippe, the wife of Socrates, was highly 
destructive, so was Catherine, in the comedy of " The 
Taming of the Shrew," and so is the whole family of scolds 
and termagants. Clergymen who address themselves much 
to the fears of their audience, and dwell strongly upon the 
terrors of future punishment, have this organ large. 

Is Destructiveness often violently roused ? 

No organ is so frequently in a state of excitation. You 
cannot cross the street, or sit an hour in the company of 
people of different religious or political sentiments, without 
seeing it called into action. If you behold a cat pouncing 
upon a mouse, or two dogs growling at each other about a 
bone, you have an instance of the faculty being at work. 
Homicidal monomania, or the irresistible desire to murder, 
is the effect of a diseased excitement of Destructiveness, and 
many miserable lunatics have perished on the scaffold, for 
homicides committed under its influence. Great ignorance 
prevails among judges and juries with regard to this subject. 39 



39 I saw a man, named Papaverine, guillotined at Paris, in 1825, for murder. 
On reading his trial, I was strongly impressed with the idea that the crime 
was committed under the influence of insanity, and that the man ought not 
to have been put to death. This view of the case ha3 been since adopted in 
works on insanity, and is now admitted to be sound. The same year, I 



DESTRUCTIVENESS. 63 

Are destructive people necessarily brave ? 

No. They are often great cowards when brought to face 
real danger. Valour depends upon Combativeness, and 
destructive people have often little of this quality. At the 
same time, Destructiveness sharpens Combativeness, and 
adds much to its energy on the field of battle. Firmness 
gives endurance to both these faculties, and prevents them 
from rapidly exhausting themselves. 40 

What results from a want of Destructiveness? 

The mind is deficient in fire and edge, and in that degree 
of severity which is of great use in the business of life. 



witnessed at Versailles, the decapitation of a miserable wretch, convicted 
of murdering, and of afterwards eating- the flesh of his victim— a young- girl, 
against whom he entertained no animosity whatever. When apprehended, 
he had plenty of money upon him, a proof that he was not impelled by 
want. He could assign no motive for the dreadful act, but an insatiable 
desire to eat human flesh. Gaulius speaks of a man who had a similar 
passion, and who, to gratify it, committed many murders. His daughter, 
though separated from him, and well brought up, yielded to the same hor- 
rible desire, and became also a cannibal. " At the commencement of the last 
century," says Spurzheim, "many murders were committed in Holland, 
upon the frontiers of Cleves. The author of these crimes was, for a long 
time, unknown, but at last an old musician, who was in the habit of play- 
ing the violin at a]l the weddings in the neighbourhood, was suspected, in 
consequence of some remarks which escaped his children. Being brought 
before a magistrate, he acknowledged thirty-four murders, and declared 
that he committed them without animosity, or wish to rob, but simply because 
he felt therein an extraordinary degree of pleasure." The whole of these 
persons were, unquestionably, monomaniacs. 

40 A man is met on the highway by a robber, who presents a pistol to his 
breast, and demands his money. If the man is greatly endowed with Firm- 
ness, but deficient in Combativeness, he will sternly refuse to surrender his 
purse, but do nothing more. If he possesses, along with Firmness, a great 
deal of Combativeness, he will be inclined to rush forward, and wrench 
the weapon from the hand of his assailant. Here the function of Com- 
bativeness will cease ; but supposing the individual to be largely endowed 
with Destructiveness also, he will endeavour to knock the aggressor down, 
to punish him with severity, and perhaps kill him on the spot. In most per- 
sons, Destructiveness is large enough to give rise to such manifestations in 
the circumstances supposed. 



64: ALIMENTIVENESS. 



f ALIMENTIVENESS. 

What is meant by this term ? 

Alimentiveness is the name applied to one of the organs, 
not yet regarded as fully ascertained : it is supposed to be 
connected with the desire for food. In the bust, it bears no 
number, but is marked f ; it lies in front of, and a little above, 
the opening of the ear. Farther observations are necessary, 
to determine finally whether the function assigned to this 
part of the brain be correct ; but many facts render this 
highly probable. 

How does it display itself when very large? 

It is supposed to do so in an inordinate fondness for indulg- 
ing in the pleasures of the table. If this belief is correct, 
gluttons and epicures ought to be well endowed with the 
organ, and probably drunkards also. Indeed, Dr. Caldwell 
of Lexington, in his ingenious " Thoughts on Intemper- 
ance," 41 conceives the habit of drunkenness to depend upon 
a highly excited state of this organ, and proposes to cure it by 
means of local applications, tending to diminish high action 
in the brain. It is certain that, by nature, some people are 
much more addicted to eating and drinking than others, and 
it can hardly be doubted, that these propensities depend 
upon a special organ. The abuses of the faculty are 
gluttony and drunkenness. 42 

41 Published in the Transylvania Journal of Medicine, July, &e. 1832. 
See also the Phrenological Journal, vol. viii. p. 624 

42 In the Journal of the Phrenological Society of Paris, the case of a 
woman called Denise, detailed in the " Annales de la Medecine Physiolo- 
gique," (October, 1832) is taken notice of, as furnishing a curious example 
of insatiable appetite for food. In infancy, she exhausted the milk of all 
her nurses, and ate four times more than other children of the same age. 
At school, she devoured the bread of all the scholars; and in the Salpe- 
triere it was found impossible to satisfy her habitual appetite with less 
than eight or ten pounds of bread daily. Nevertheless, she there experi- 



LOVE OF LIFE. 65 

LOVE OF LIFE. 

Does the love of existence depend upon a particular organ? 

It is so conjectured by phrenologists, who conceive that a 
portion of the lower and inner side of the middle lobe of 
the brain is probably the seat of this feeling. Facts, however, 
are more deficient here, than even with regard to the organ 
of Alimentiveness. There is much reason to suppose that 
Love of Life depends upon a special organ, for we do not 
always find that those whose lot has been most fortunately 
cast, as respects riches, health, and other things considered 
worth living for, set the highest value upon existence. The 
wretched and half-starved mendicant often dreads the ter- 
mination of life more than the happy and the prosperous, 
and this altogether without any reference to a future state 
and its punishments. Dr. Johnson had an extreme terror of 
death: if this feeling has a special organ, it must have been 
large in him. Dr. Thomas Brown treats of " the desire of 
continued existence " as a special faculty. 



enced, two or three times a month, great attacks of hunger, during which 
she devoured twenty-four pounds of bread daily. If, during these fits, any 
obstacle was opposed to the gratification of her imperious desire, she 
became so furious that she used to bite her clothes, and even hands, and did 
not recover her reason till hunger was completely satisfied. Being one 
day in the kitchen of a rich family, where a dinner party was expected, she 
devoured, in a very few minutes, the soup intended for twenty guests, along 
with twelve pounds of bread. On another occasion, she drank all the coffee 
prepared for seventy-five of her companions in the Salpetriere ! Her skull 
is small ; the region of the propensities predominates. 

In the head of the semi-idiot, Barclay, executed for murder, the organ of 
Alimentiveness was very large, and the excessive craving for food corres- 
ponded. He clamoured for it shortly before being brought upon the scaffold, 
and on the morning of his execution ate a breakfast which would have 
sufficed for three healthy men. 

For an account of all that is at present known concerning this organ, see 
an excellent article, by Mr. Robert Cox, in the Phrenological Journal, 
vol. x. p. 249. 



66 



SECRETIVENESS. 



7. SECRETIVENESS. 

Describe the seat and tendency of this organ, 
Secretiveness is situated immediately above Destructive- 
ness, as may be seen by referring to the bust. When the 
latter organ is very large, and comes high up, it may be 
mistaken for Secretiveness by the inexperienced observer. 
In like manner, Secretiveness and Acquisitiveness are some- 
times confounded with Ideality: this happened in the case 
of Hare the murderer, in whose head the enemies of Phreno- 
logy ignorantly affirmed that Ideality was large, when the 
fact was exactly the reverse. These mistakes arise from 
the organs in question encroaching more than is usual upon 
the neighbouring ones ; but an experienced investigator will 
never fall into them. Secretiveness, when large, gives a 
general breadth of head at the back part of the temple. 
Its tendency is to conceal. The following cut represents 
the organ large. 




What is the character of a very sec? etive person f 
He is reserved, and neither open nor explicit; is fond 
of stratagem and finesse, and delights in mystifying and 



SECRETIVENESS. 67 

deceiving. His pace is stealthy, his voice soft, his eyes 
sidelong, his eyelids half-closed, and he can hardly look an 
acquaintance in the face. A person with much Secretive- 
ness is very fond of prying into the affairs of others, unless 
his mind be of a superior cast. 

From what does cunning result f 

From the excessive size and activity of this organ. Secre- 
tiveness, however, if well regulated by the moral sentiments, 
does not display itself in cunning, which is an abuse of the 
faculty. 

Has it any thing to do in producing taciturnity ? 

It has. Taciturnity arises from Secretiveness and Cautious- 
ness, accompanied, generally, with a small development of 
Language, and, in many cases, of Love of Approbation. 

What good purpose is served by Secretiveness? 

It communicates a power, often highly valuable, of hiding 
the manifestation of unpleasant feelings, which, without such 
restraint, would be sure to burst forth. It also gives us an 
insight into the feelings of others, and suspicion of their 
motives ; hence secretive people are not easily imposed upon, 
and possess singular facility in detecting imposture, and 
seeing through plausibility and pretension. Secretiveness 
is of eminent use in war and diplomacy. Hannibal in the 
field, and Talleyrand and Fouche in the cabinet, sufficiently 
prove the truth of this remark. Secretiveness is the chief 
ingredient in what is called tact. 

75 Secretiveness requisite for an actor? 

No person can be a good performer without it. The 
actor must sink his own character in representing another ; 
and this is chiefly effected by virtue of Secretiveness. Where 
Imitation exists, as it always does in good actors, the process 
is still more complete. 

Is it an element in humour P 

It enters very fully into what is called dry humour, such 



68 SECRETIVENESS. 

as that of Dean Swift and Cervantes, where the writer under 
the disguise of the most perfect simplicity and gravity, con- 
vulses us with laughter. Broad humour, such as that of 
Smollett and Rabelais, requires less of it, and into Irish 
humour it very sparingly enters. 

In which sex is the feeling stronger? 

In the female ; and the size of the organ corresponds. A 
woman is obliged to conceal her feelings on a variety of 
occasions, w r here a man is placed under no such restraints. 
This is especially the case in reference to love matters. Let her 
attachment be ever so great, she dare not avow it till the man 
has made the fullest advances : she dare not even exhibit 
any sign of her feeling with regard to him, till he has given 
her ample reason to suppose that she is the object of his affec- 
tion. In this, and various other displays of concealed emo- 
tion which the delicacy of the sex demands, we see the 
power of an active Secretiveness. 43 

What is the character of a person deficient in this faculty f 

He is remarkable for candour and openness, speaks his 
mind freely, and is under little restraint. People of this kind 
ought never to be entrusted with a secret, as they feel a 
continual effort necessary to prevent them from divulging it. 

Is the faculty active in any of the lower animals? 

In many of them it is so, and their craft is generally, though 
not always, in proportion to the weakness or helplessness of 
the animal. The cunning of the fox and the cat is prover- 
bial. Most birds are astute— witness the admirable manner 
in which the nests of many of them are hid from observation. 
The crocodile and turtle seem to show Secretiveness in the 



43 The hacknied but beautiful lines of Shakspeare are familiar to every 
one— 

" She never told her love, 
But let concealment, like a worm i' the bud, 
Feed on her damask cheek," 



ACQUISITIVENESS. 69 

skilful manner in which they hide their eggs in the sand, 
unless, indeed, we can suppose, that in so doing, they are 
guided by a particular blind instinct. Craft enables some 
animals to secure their prey, and others to avoid danger. 



8. ACQUISITIVENESS. 

State the position and nature of this organ. 
It is situated at the anterior, inferior angle of the parietal 
bone, and the feeling connected with it gives the tendency 
to acquire and accumulate. When very powerful, there is 
an inordinate lust after riches. The person becomes a 
miser i the whole aim of his life is to hoard ; and the loss of 
money he regards as the greatest of misfortunes. So strong 
is this feeling, that many persons, though wallowing in 
wealth, scarcely allow themselves the common necessaries 
of life. Such was the case with Elwes, who lived in great 
want and misery, although immensely rich — his fortune, at 
the time of his death, amounting to £700,000. Daniel 
Dancer, the miser, who left £60,000, slept for many years 
in an old sack, to save the expense of bedding, and never, 
even in the severest weather, allowed himself the luxury of 
a fire. He sustained life by begging, and literally died of 
starvation. The Duke of Marlborough, though worth 
£50,000 a year might be seen darning his stockings at the 
head of the army, and would walk home from the theatre on 
a rainy night to save sixpence. 

What character results from large Acquisitiveness and 
deficient Conscientiousness f 

The person will be thievishly inclined. If placed in un- 
favourable circumstances, it is hardly possible for him, with 
such an organization, to be otherwise than a thief. 
If favourably situated, would he act the thief? 
Possibly not. His pride, love of approbation, or terror of 



70 ACQUISITIVENESS. 

discovery, might prevent him from stealing, but still at heart 
he would be a thief, and covet every thing he saw. 

May a miser be a benevolent man ? 

He may ; but he will show his benevolence in some other 
way than in giving money. Although he may exert himself 
vehemently, and spare no trouble to oblige a friend, it 
will be difficult or impossible to make him open his purse. 
It must be admitted, however, that the tendency of excessive 
Acquisitiveness is to "harden the heart, and petrify the 
feelings." Gold is the miser's divinity : he worships it as an 
idol, and extends his veneration to all who have a large share 
of it ; hence wealthy people, however despicable their cha- 
racter, are apt to be held in profound respect by the ac- 
quisitive. 

Are very acquisitive people usually happy f 

They are not. Having, in general, but one source of 
felicity, that of hoarding money, they are fretful and discon- 
tented, when their efforts at accumulation fall short of what 
they calculated upon : the loss of wealth annoys them ex- 
ceedingly, and while they venerate, they, at the same time, 
envy those who are richer than themselves. 

What is the result of small Acquisitiveness? 

Indifference about making, and profusion in spending 
money. People of this description seldom talk about 
wealth; while with the acquisitive this is the favourite theme 
of conversation. 

Does Acquisitiveness lead to the accumulation of money 
alone ? 

No ; it may show itself in accumulation of any kind. 
Some people are fond of hoarding books, medals, coins, 
curious shells, &c. : if a person has a liking for these things, 
and possesses large Acquisitiveness, he will naturally collect 
them, especially if this can be done at little expense. 

Does this faculty display itself in early life? 



ACQUISITIVENESS. 71 

When strong, it is manifested at a very early period. 
There are vast differences among children in this respect : 
one gives half of what he has to his playmate, another keeps 
all to himself : one school-boy will keep a halfpenny in his 
pocket a week before he has the heart to spend it; another 
gets quit of his little treasure almost as soon as it is in his 
possession. 44 

Does old age whet or diminish the activity of this organ ? 

It aggravates it to a great degree. A careful boy will 
make a miserly man. Avarice is commonly said to be the 
only passion which age does not blunt, but there is reason 
to doubt whether the vehemence of Destructiveness is 
mitigated by years. Old people frequently become exceed- 
ingly irascible and peevish, owing probably to the organ 
being stimulated by the discomforts and want of enjoyment 
so generally accompanying advanced life. Acquisitiveness 
and Destructivenes, therefore, may be held as increased, and 
not, like the other organs, diminished in activity by old age. 45 

Would you not infer that age blunts Acquisitiveness, seeing 
that theft is most common in early years f 

Children steal more readily than grown people, because 
their caution and reflection are less. Adults see more 



44 The great Prince of Conde having- occasion to go from home for some 
time, gave to his son, a young lad, eighty Isuis d'or for pocket money. On 
his return, the careful youth showed him the money, exclaiming " see, 
father, there is all the money you gave me, and I have not spent a single 
sous of it." The Prince was so disgusted with the penurious spirit of the 
lad, that he took the money and threw it into the street, telling the young- 
miser that if he had not the manliness to spend it upon himself, he ought 
to have given it away. 

45 Why age should sharpen Acquisitiveness, while it blunts other 
faculties, it is difficult even to conjecture, but the fact is undeniable. A 
good story is told of an old Scotch nobleman, one of the Earls of Findlater, 
I believe, who, having found a farthing, and being solicited for the same by 
a beggar who saw him pick it up, put it carefully into his pocket, saying, 
" Na, na, puir body; find a farthing for yoursel." 



ri ACQUISITIVENESS. 

clearly the consequences to which a discovery of theft would 
lead ; and a man has naturally more respect for his reputation 
than a child. The desire of a man to possess any thing may 
be as strong as a child's ; but to obtain it he will not readily 
adopt means which may involve him in disgrace. Indepen- 
dently of this, the moral feelings are actually weaker in 
childhood than at the subsequent periods of life. 

May a thief possess benevolence ? 

Undoubtedly. He may rob you to-day and relieve you 
to-morrow with a liberal hand, if you are in distress. This 
fact may be easily verified by referring to the lives of famous 
pickpockets and highwaymen. George Harrington is a re- 
markable case in point. The celebrated outlaws, Robin 
Hood and Rob Roy, were instances in which a great deal of 
benevolent feeling co-existed with large Acquisitiveness and 
deficient Conscientiousness. 40 The generous behaviour of 



46 The passion for thieving, is in some individuals so intensely 
and irresistibly strong, as absolutely to amount to a disease. In such 
cases, it bears a very striking analogy to homicidal monomania. Victor 
Amadeus, King of Sardinia, had a strong passion for theft, and frequently 
indulged in the vice. The same was the case with Saurin, an intelligent 
and pious Swiss clergyman j and we frequently hear of ladies of rank and 
fortune stealing from the shops of haberdashers, while purchasing goods. 
The following remarkable case of thieving monomania, I extract from the 
London papers. Confirmed thieves seem all to labour under this affec- 
tion :— 

Central Criminal Court.— Henry Smith, a smart lad, aged thirteen, was 
convicted of stealing a diamond, the property of his father. The boy had 
been twice convicted, and kept solitary and whipped, but on his liberation 
he returned to his old habit of pilfering. 

The little fellow, with tears, prayed the Court to send him to the convict 
ship to break him of thieving. 

Court Why do you thieve ? 

Prisoner.— I cannot help it; I must do it. 

The schoolmaster of Newgate was consulted as to the boy's intellect, and 
he was reported to be shrewd, of sound intellect, but so addicted to theft, 
that only last night he robbed a fellow-prisoner of a shilling. The Court 
complied with the prisoner's request. 



ACQUISITIVENESS. 73 

the robber to Queen Margaret, after her defeat at Hexham, 
is matter of history ; and many other instances of such men 
displaying great humanity might easily be recorded. In the 
prison of Copenhagen, for instance, Dr. Gall saw Pierre 
Michel, a crafty and incorrigible thief, who stole for the sole 
purpose of giving away to the poor. 

Is Acquisitiveness ever morbidly excited '? 

Such is sometimes the case. Irritation of the organ 
from an injury may force it into diseased activity, and thus 
make a thief of a person previously honest. Conscientious 
people, who become deranged, sometimes display a strong 
passion for stealing, on the same principle that individuals 
remarkable for chastity and purity of mind frequently in- 
dulge, during an attack of madness, in the most lascivious 
conversation. Dr. Gall mentions the cases of four women 
who, while pregnant, were strongly addicted to theft, and 
who yet exhibited no such inclination at other times. In 
such instances, the change of character which ensues can only 
be referred to diseased activity of the organ. 

To what does the legitimate exercise of Acquisitiveness 
lead f 

To a rational accumulation of wealth for proper pur- 
poses, as for the sake of securing comfort and independence 
to one's self and family. Carried much beyond this point, 
it is a contemptible vice, degrading to a human being. 

Does the size of the organ differ in different nations ? 

Very much. It is said to be small in the Arragonese, and 
Castilians ; and these people are not at all giveu to stealing. 
The Calmucs, who are notorious thieves, have a large de- 
velopment of the organ. It is generally lar^e in Scotch, 
English, and Dutch heads ; hence the vast fortunes acquired, 
and the high respect paid to wealth in Great Britain and 
Holland. It is small in the French head ; a Frenchman is 
satisfied with a moderate competency, and whin that is 

D 



74 CONSTltUCTIVENESS. 

secured he generally retires from business to pass his life in 
pleasure ; while the Briton and the Dutchman toil on till the 
last, in the accumulation of property. In France little re- 
spect is paid to a person merely on account of his wealth ; 
while in some other countries, the mere whisper that a man 
is rich is sufficient to ensure him every homage and attention. 

Is Acquisitiveness manifested by the lower animals ? 

Some of them exhibit its activity in great perfection. 
The magpie is a notorious thief, and carries its propensity so 
far as to steal what can be of no use to it. Cats are gene- 
rally looked upon as thieves, and so are dogs ; but I appre- 
hend that it is not, as in the magpie, from an abstract prin- 
ciple of appropriation that they steal, but merely to gratify 
hunger. The industrious bee, in hoarding honey for its winter 
stores, shows the force of Acquisitiveness. The same re- 
mark applies to the beaver, which accumulates wood for the 
formation of its dwelling. The cow and the horse have the 
sense of property. Each goes to its own stall, and defends 
it against intrusion. 

9. CONSTEUCTIVENESS. 

Describe the position and function of this organ f 
It is marked 9 in the bust, and. lies in the temple, below 
and in front of Acquisitiveness. Its function may be 
described as the tendency to fashion or construct, and expert- 
ness in doing so. It is large in those who have a con- 
structive or mechanical genius, such as Archimedes/jTelford, 
Watt, Vauban, Michael Angelo, and Raphael. Dextrous 
artizans, and painters and sculptors who are eminent in the 
mechanical department of their avocations, must have the 
organ large ; and accordingly we find that in them it is 
invariably above average. It is impossible to be even an 
expert tailor, carpenter, or milliner, without a good endow- 



CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 75 

meut of the organ. It alone, however, will not enable us 
to contrive an ingenious piece of machinery. Mechanical 
contrivers are not impelled by Constructiveness, but by 
intellect. The former, however, is absolutely necessary 
to embody, or realize, in a machine what the intellect suggests. 

What follows when the organ is small f 

The person is what we call clumsy-handed, and can do 
nothing with neatness and dexterity. Some men are so very 
remarkable in this respect that they cannot even make a pen, 
ot shave themselves. 

How does the faculty exhibit itself in the lower animals'? 

In various ways, and in some with exquisite nicety, 
witness the beautiful architecture of the honeycomb by that 
ingenious little artist the bee — the wonderful skill with which 
the beaver constructs its dwelling — and the art displayed by 
birds in the formation of their nests. 

Is the force of this faculty in the lower animals in the ratio 
of their general intellect? 

No more than in man. The most sagacious animals, 
such as the dog and elephant, never attempt a work of art, 
while creatures far inferior in general sagacity excel in such 
achievements. This is a decided proof that a special organ 
exists for the purpose of construction. 

Do nations differ greatly with regard to the force of this 
organ ? 

Very much indeed. The head of the New Hollander is 
narrow in the region of Constructiveness, and his deficiency 
in this respect is notorious. The organ is largely developed 
in the Italian and French head, and more moderately in the 
English. 

Can Constructiveness be abused? 

Yes. The formation of engines for destroying human life, 
and the erection of such structures as the Sphinx, the Cretan 
Labyrinth, the Ear of Dionysius, and the Egyptian Pyramids, 



76 CONSTRUCTIVENESS. 

may all be regarded as abuses of the faculty. The same may 
be said of many of fehose trifling evanescent works of fancy, 
in which so much precious time is wasted by females in the 
middle and higher grades of society. Coining and fabri- 
cating forged notes are criminal abuses of the faculty. 50 

May a person void of constructive talent acquire it by 
diseased excitement of this organ? 

Facts prove that this is possible. In such cases, however, 
the adventitious talent thus curiously acquired, will endure 
only so long as the excitement continues. 

In what respect does the constructive talent of man differ 
from that of the lower animals? 

The talent of the lower animals is specific and limited, 
The bee can construct only a honeycomb, the bird a nest, 
the beaver a dwelling of a particular form. No tuition can 
alter the dispositions of these creatures so as to make them 
build after any other fashion ; whereas, the constructive 
talent of man is general in its operation ; he works by a 
thousand different ways, and forms an infinity of distinct 
objects. 



50 There is a man in London who exhibits what he calls the learned fleas. 
He has contrived to employ those insects in a variety of occupations, such 
as drawing- carriages and ships, carrying towers, and other pursuits equally 
momentous and important. Wonderful skill is displayed in the construction 
of the vehicles, &c. and in the admirable art with which the insects are 
attached to them — skill, which applied to proper purposes, might lead to 
great results, and do the artist honour. Such a childish application of great 
constructive talents, is surely an abuse of the faculty in question. 



SELF-ESTEEM. 



77 



GENUS II SENTIMENTS. 

What meaning is attached to the word Sentiment? 

The term is applied to those affective faculties which, 
besides giving rise to inclinations, feel an emotion or affec- 
tion which is not merely a propensity. 



SPECIES. I INFERIOR SENTIMENTS. 

10. SELF-ESTEEM. 

How would you recognize a large Self-Esteem f 
By the elevation which it gives to that part of the head 
immediately above Concentrativeness, and between it and 
the organ of Firmness. Both the organ and the physiog- 
nomical expression of the faculty are well represented in the 
subjoined engraving of a proud character. 




How was the organ discovered? 

In the following manner : — Dr. Gall one day met with a 
weak-minded beggar, who had such an inordinate opinion of 



78 SELF-ESTEEM. 

his own consequence, that he refused to work, considering 
labour to be entirely beneath his dignity. This man was 
the son of a rich merchant, and had been reduced to beggary 
by over-weening self-conceit preventing him from labouring 
for his bread. On examination, Dr. Gall observed a large 
prominence on the upper and back part of his head, which 
he supposed might be the seat of pride. Subsequent obser- 
vations have fully verified his conjecture. 

To what does excessive Self-Esteem lead? 

To arrogance, to an immense opinion of one's self, 51 and, 
when accompanied by deficient Benevolence, to great 
selfishnesss. 

What are the results of a small development f 

Modesty and humility of demeanour. The person thinks 
little of himself, however admirable his merits, andis perfectly 
free from presumption. Such persons are great favourites 
with those who have much Self-Esteem. There is no collision 
of feeling between them — the humble mind unconsciously 
giving way to the proud one, and thus affording it gratification * 

Is a great endowment of this faculty useful or the reverse? 

Useful, rather than otherwise, if accompanied with good 
moral sentiments. It gives self-respect, a spirit of indepen- 
dence, and that proper pride which disdains every thing 
that is mean and dishonourable. Even bad men who have 
much Self-Esteem, are often prevented from acting improperly 
through the fear of compromising their dignity. A good 

51 It is the great Self-Esteem of the English which renders them so insuffer- 
able on the Continent— which leads them to decry all other nations, and to 
look upon themselves as in every respect the first people in the world. The 
songs which are addressed to the Self-Esteem of the nation, are universally 
popular: witness "Rule Britannia," and "Ye Mariners of England." 
That famous toast "The British Constitution — the pride of surrounding 
nations and the envy of the universe," is a preposterous ebullition of immo- 
derate Self-Esteem. The Scotch Highlanders have a vast opinion of them- 
selves, and I apprehend that the organ of Self-Esteem, is, generally speaking, 
decidedly larger in them than in their Lowland brethren. 



SELF-ESTEEM. 79 

endowment, by inspiring us with confidence in the sound- 
ness of our own opinions, is necessary to enable us to make 
head against popular errors and prejudices. Luther, in 
opposing the errors of the Church of Rome, was much in- 
debted to this faculty. Had Dr. Gall been feebly gifted 
with it, and possessed, at the same time, predominating 
Love of Approbation, he never could have borne up against 
the torrent of ridicule and persecution which assailed him 
on account of his great discovery. 

Is it possible to surmise the existence of large Self-Esteem 
without examining the head? 

Yes. Those so endowed have generally an upright gait, 
carry their heads high, and have altogether an air of conse- 
quence about them. They are apt to speak in a pompous 
measured style, as if every word they uttered was highly 
oracular. They are great egotists, indulging largely in the 
use of the pronoun l, 52 and talking constantly of their own 
affairs. The pomposity of Self-Esteem is indeed highly 
imposing. Shallow men, by dint of it, often pass for being 
very profound ; while others with ten times the talent but 
destitute of assumption, are frequently thought little of. 

In which sex does the organ most predominate? 

In the male. Men generally assume more than women, 

52 Take the following, from a work recently published, as a specimen;— 
" Reader, when / was a child, it w*as not Gall, but some other galling phren- 
ologist, who, seizing one of the protuberances of my reverend head, thank 
heaven it was not my nose, deliberately told my aunt Josephine, that the 
said bump contained the organ of matrimony. Now my aunt, not being 
deep in the science, as deliberately replied that she did not believe in any 
organ but the organ of music ; whereat the good man, no way discouraged, 
immediately commenced feeling for the said organ. Indeed, sir, cried /, 
somewhat impatiently ; indeed, sir, /have got no more bumps, and /should 
not have had that, only / fell down yesterday and knocked my head against 
the table. My aunt, Josephine, laughing aloud, the phrenologist was dis- 
concerted, and /, glad of the opportunity, escaped from the room."— Four 
Years 1 Residence in the West Indies, by F. W. N. Bayley. 



80 SELF-ESIEEM. 

and their opinion of themselves is much greater. More men 
go deranged than women, from wounded pride. 

What effect is produced by diseased excitement of this 
organ ? 

Its activity is enormously increased, and the person is apt 
to imagine himself a monarch, or even the Deity. In every 
madhouse lunatics of this description may be met with. 

Mention a few of the forms in which Self-Esteem displays 
itself? 

In a fondness for being placed in dignified situations, as 
on the magisterial bench, and an extreme sensibility to 
neglect or insult. " Better to reign in hell than serve in 
heaven," is the language of the faculty. Weak-minded 
people with much Self-Esteem, value themselves highly on 
account of their great connexions and acquaintances, if they 
happen to have any. Dr. Gall speaks of conceited indivi- 
duals, who will not cut their nails lest it should appear that 
they are obliged to work. Many persons will not put 
their names upon their doors. This is the result of Self- 
Esteem. They imagine themselves to be people of such 
consequence that all the world should know where they 
reside. Those with a very strong endowment of this faculty, 
are fond of taking the lead on all occasions, and are apt to 
be disobedient to superiors. Leaders of mutinies have 
the organ well marked. Great Self-Esteem, especially if 
combined with deficient Conscientiousness and a mean 
intellect, induces people to speak uncharitably and harshly 
of those whose religious sentiments differ from their own. 
They look upon their own particular creed as the only one 
which can possibly be true; and, if Destructivenessis largely 
developed, do not scruple to consign all other sects to eternal 
punishment in the life to come. Persons of this stamp will 
frequently not associate with those who think differently in 
religious matters from themselves. " Get behind me, sinner; 



SELF-ESTEEM. 81 

thou art less righteous than I." Such is the motto of these 
modern Pharisees. 

Does Self-Esteem produce vanity f 

No. The proud man despises the opinions of others ; 
the vain man lives, as it were, upon them. " The man is 
too proud to be vain," was a remark of Dean Swift, and is 
founded on a correct view of human nature. 53 

Why are many of those who figure as great patriots and 
defenders of popular rights thorough tyrants at heart? 

This seems to arise from those pseudo-patriots possessing 
a great endowment of Self-Esteem, with deficient Benevo- 
lence and Conscientiousness. The first makes them impa- 
tient of seeing others placed in higher stations than themselves, 
and the deficiency of the two last renders them unscrupulous 
in their usage of others. To pull down those who sit in 
high places, they make tools of the populace, whom probably 
they dislike a great deal more than do those whose overthrow 
they are meditating. Knaves of this description frequently 
get into Parliament, and other public situations, by impudent 
pretensions to superior patriotism. 54, 

53 u The prond man is penetrated with a sense of his superior merit, and 
from the height of his grandeur, treats with contempt or indifference all 
other mortals; the vain man attaches the utmost importance to the judg- 
ment of others, and ardently seeks for their approbation. The proud mau 
expects that the world should come and discover his merit; the vain man 
strikes at every door to draw attention towards him, and supplicates even 
the smallest portion of honour. The proud man despises the marks of dis- 
tinction which constitute the happiness of the vain one. The proud man is 
disgusted by indiscreet eulogiums; the vain mau inhales incense with 
rapture, however unskilfully scattered upon him; the proud man, even 
under the most imperious necessity, never descends from his elevation ; 
the vain man humbles himself even to the ground, provided by this means he 
attain his end." — Gall, Sur Les Fonctions du Cerveau, tome iv. p. 296. 
This discriminative sketch is worthy of Theophrastus. 

54 " Ces hommes renverseroient tous les trones pour s'eriger euxmemes 
en despotes. Ainsi 1' organization confirme ce que Phistoire de tous les 
temps nous a enseigne sur le but des revolutions : otez-vous de la que je m'y 
mette."—Gall. 

D 2 



82 LOVE OF APPROBATION. 

Do any of the inferior animals possess the faculty of 
Self-Esteem? 

The turkey, the peacock, and the horse are conceived to 
do so. Napoleon's favourite steed seems to have had the 
feeling strong : when ridden by any other than his Imperial 
Master, he appeared depressed, and to feel as if degraded ; 
but so soon as the Emperor mounted him, he raised his head 
erect, looking inflated with pride, as if conscious that he had 
the honour of carrying one who was greater than all others. 
The animal's sagacity was here equal to his pride, as he 
must have caught the idea of his master's rank by remarking 
the respectful manner in which he was universally treated. 
The dislike which one dog has to see another caressed, 
arises from wounded Self-Esteem. 

11. LOVE OF APPROBATION. 

Describe the position and function of this organ. 

It lies on each side of the organ of Self-Esteem. The 
objects sought for by the faculty are, esteem and admiration, 
and it is gratified by praise. It also prompts us to set an 
excessive value upon the opinions of the particular circle in 
which we move, however absurd or pernicious those may be. 
When very strong, there is a constant and fidgetty desire 
to please and be admired by every body, a morbid appetite 
for praise, and a longing to know what the world thinks of 
us. The person so endowed dresses well, or employs other 
means to excite admiration. His leading aim is to procure 
applause; he lives upon incense, and is wretched if he does 
not obtain it. In short, as pride is the abuse of Self-Esteem, 
so is vanity that of Love of Approbation. Combined, they 
produce ambition. This organ is very large in the busts of 
Themistocles, who from his earliest years displayed an 
unquenchable love of glory, and often declared that the 



LOVE OF APPROBATION. 83 

victories of Miltiades would not allow him to sleep. 55 The 
feeling seems to have been very strong in Alexander the 
Great, Napoleon, and Charles XII. of Sweden. 

Have not women more vanity than men ? 

Such is generally the case, although some men have the 
passion in great excess. Women are easily flattered, and 
soon become partial to those who bestow upon them this 
species of adulation. Women frequently go deranged from 
diseased Love of Approbation, which is seldom the case with 
the other sex. 

What is the demeanour of a person with a great endow- 
ment of this faculty? 

It is conciliating, courteous, and polite, very different from 
the hard austerity and pomp of Self-Esteem. Beaux, 
masters of ceremonies, teachers of dancing, bowing silk 
mercers, &c, afford good illustrations of the natural language 
of the faculty. 

Does the feeling display itself in any other way f 

Yes : when combined with deficient Conscientiousness, it 
disposes the person to " shoot with the long bow," and to be 
addicted to boasting. If he is naturally a coward, his Love 
of Approbation will dispose him to talk largely of valiant 
feats performed by himself — all for the purpose of disguising 



55 Themistocles was not a strictly conscientious man, as is proved by his 
treatment of Aristides, and his proposal to destroy the ships of the other 
Greek powers for the purpose of giving his native country the supremacy, 
at a time when these powers were at peace with it, and had no reason to 
fear such an outrage. When, however, the King of Persia came to claim 
his promise that he would lead the barbarian forces against Greece, his 
Love of Approbation seems to have taken alarm, and rather than do a deed 
which must have blasted his reputation for ever among his countrymen, he 
chose, although the Athenians had used him most shamefully, and well 
deserved punishment, to die by his own hands. It is not probable that 
Conscientiousness had much influence in stopping him, and far less fear. 
The feeling by which he was arrested in his career of vengeance was, in all 
probability, Love of Approbation. 



84 LOVE OF APPROBATION. 

his conscious pusillanimity. Men, for the most part, wish 
to make it appear that they possess those good qualities in 
which they are deficient ; hence the coward, like the ass 
in the lion's skin, tries to assume the guise of valour. 
By ivhom is Love of Approbation most displayed? 
By those whose success in their profession depends upon 
public applause, such as actors, painters, &c. : it is in the 
gratification of this feeling, indeed, that the chief reward of 
their exertions often consists. People who are fond of ap- 
pearing much before the public, either in the shape of orators, 
lecturers, chairmen of meetings, movers of addresses, or any 
other in which they will be spoken of, and their sayings and 
doings blazoned in the newspapers, have generally a large 
organ of Love of Approbation. 56 

Does vanity manifest itself the same way with every 
one? 

No. The way in which it manifests itself depends upon 
the other faculties. A vain man with a good endowment 
of Tune, and a small organ of Number, will be vain of his 
musical genius and comparatively indifferent to praise on 
account of his powers of calculation. Swindlers, pickpockets, 
robbers, and even murderers often boast of their feats. If a 
man excels in any thing, and possesses much Love of 
Approbation, he will be apt to boast of his eminence in that 
particular walk ; hence we have men who are vain of their 
powers of eating and drinking. The vain man always 
wishes to be esteemed eminent in his profession, whether it 

56 " I love vanity " observes, Dr. Gall "because it gives rise to a thousand 
artificial wants, augments the comforts of life, embellishes our habitations, 
and employs and gives support to the industrious. It is to it, in a great 
degree, that we are indebted for the flourishing state of the arts and sciences. 
Collections of sculpture, of paintings, of natural history, of books— our 
gardens, our monuments, our palaces, would be either paltry or altogether 
awanting, without the inspiration of vanity, the love of distinction." 



LOVE OE APPROBATION. 85 

be that of poet, statesman, physician, divine, pickpocket, 
glutton, drunkard, or bravo. 57 

Do the lower animals display this faculty ? 
Some do. Dogs are exceedingly fond of caresses and 
approbation. I remember of a favourite terrier bringing a 
rat which he had killed to my bed-room door, and scraping 
for admittance, evidently that I might see the good service 
he had done. The animal had been trained to rat-killing, 
and evidently knew that in slaying one of these creatures he 
had done an action which would be applauded. The violent 
efforts of the race-horse in the struggle for victory evidently 
proceed from Love of Approbation. The faculty is active 
in the monkey, which is fond of gaudy dresses. 
What follows when the organ is very small ? 
A marked indifference to praise and to the opinions of the 
world. It is unfortunate when a person is so circumstanced, 
for the love of being well thought of is certainly one of the 
great incentives to the performance of generous deeds. 
Does good ever result from excessive vanity ? 
Sometimes to the public— rarely to the individual. For 
instance, men, from a love of ostentation, often put down 
their names as donors to public charities, to which, otherwise, 
they would not have contributed a farthing. The magnifi- 
cent sepulchral monuments of " Pere la Chaise" are erected, 
in a great measure, at the instigation of vanity on the part 
of the families of the deceased. The same feeling has much 
to do in the erection and endowment of hospitals to which 
wealthy individuals, such as Guy and Heriot, appropriate 
their fortunes. 

57 " A large organ of Love of Approbation, in a head of great general 
size, gives origin to the ambition of a Bonaparte ; while a large development 
of the organ in a small head produces frivolous vanity, like that of the 
Hindoos, whose heads, as Lady Irwin says, 'are toyshops filled with trifling 
wares.'" — Phrenological Journal, vol. viii. p. 641. 



86 CAUTIOUSNESS. 

Can a person be amiable without Love of Approbation f 
Not easily. This feeling enters strongly into the com- 
position of an amiable character. It gives the desire to 
please and the fear to offend, which, in every situation of 
life are so desirable. 38 

12. CAUTIOUSNESS. 

What is the tendency of this organ? 

To produce a feeling of circumspection, and when very 
active, fear. Those in whom it predominates are never rash ; 
they are what is called "prudent characters," who seldom 
get into scrapes, and scrupulously weigh the consequences 
of every word and action. 

Does great Cautiousness necessarily lead to cowardice f 

Not unless it greatly predominates over Combativeness. 
Some of the greatest heroes were distinguished for circum- 
spection : such was the case with Hannibal, Fabius, and 
many others. The skull of Bruce shows a large organ of 
Cautiousness, and this feeling was a marked one in his 
character. 

58 The activity of this feeling- is at present a great bar to the progress of 
Phrenology, but, by and by, it will assist in disseminating the science. 
People with much Love of Approbation are exceedingly shy of doing any 
thing which the public mind deems unfashionable j they go with the majority, 
no matter whether that be right or wrong. At present the number of per- 
sons who understand, and believe in Phrenology is less than of those who 
are ignorant of, and do not believe in it. This difference is gradually diminish- 
ing j and as soon as a nearer approximation is made between the strength of 
the two parties ; as soon as it appears perfectly manifest that the doctrines 
are every where gaining ground, and becoming fashionable and popular, 
then will the ranks of those who avow faith in them be increased by hosts of 
such individuals rushing breathlessly in to tender their adherence at the 
eleventh hour. The opinions of these fair weather converts, not being 
based upon that rational conviction resulting from knowledge, are of little 
consequence as testifying to the truth of the science ; but as regards the 
general interests of Phrenology, they are valuable, in so far as so many 
obstacles to its diffusion are removed, and greater opportunities afforded of 
practically applying its principles than exist at the present moment. 



CAUTIOUSNESS. 



87 



Is a large organ of Cautiousness easily discriminated? 

More so, perhaps, than any other. It gives a rounded 
and bulging fulness to the middle of the parietal bones, under 
which it is situated. 





Large Cautiousness. 



Small Cautiousness. 



The first of the above engravings represents the skull of 
a timorous, faint-hearted female : the second that of General 
Wurmser, a man remarkable for the recklessness of his 
courage. 

Is this organ well established? 

It is one of the best authenticated of the whole series. 
Those in whom it is large, have uniformly the feeling of 
circumspection strongly stamped upon their character. 

What is the consequence of a small development? 

Rashness. The person is extremely imprudent ; he speaks 
and acts without thinking ; and, if engaged in business, it is 
ten to one that he ruins himself. 

What most powerfully excites the organ ? 

Sudden and imminent danger. Soldiers in battle are 
sometimes panic-struck, and take to flight from the violent 
excitement of Cautiousness. Before a battle, it is more 
likely to be active than w r hen the other faculties are fairly 
called into play by the heat of the contest. 

What good purpose is served by this faculty ? 



88 CAUTIOUSNESS. 

It keeps people out of mischief, and renders them prudent. 
A community in which the feeling did not exist, would soon 
go to destruction. 

Is the organ ever diseased? 

It sometimes is ; and the person becomes straightway the 
victim of the most miserable apprehensions. I have 
remarked that this organ is uniformly large in those afflicted 
with hypochondria, which, indeed, is a morbid affection of 
the organ. 59 

Is the organ larger in the female than in the male? 

It is so, not only in the human species, but also in the 
inferior animals. 

Is the feeling very strong in any of the lower animals? 

In some, exceedingly so: the sheep and mouse, for 
example, are remarkably timid. Animals which prowl by 
night, such as the owl and the cat, show the manifestations 
of active Cautiousness. Some of the monkey tribe, when 
they go on a plundering expedition, place sentries to warn 
them of danger. The chamois, the wild goose, the crane, 
the starling, and the buzzard are remarkable for circum- 
spection, and act like the monkies in appointing sentinels. 
In all these animals that portion of the head, corresponding 
to the seat of the organ of Cautiousness in the human sub- 
ject, is much developed. 

Does the size of the organ vary much in aifferent 
nations ? 

It varies considerably. In the French head it is rather 
small, which partly accounts for the recklessness of the 
national character, and the state of disturbance in which that 



59 By many authors hypochondria is regarded as a disease of the digestive 
viscera j but that its real seat is the organ of Cautiousness, has been amply 
demonstrated by Dr. Andrew Combe, in the Phrenological Journal, vol. 
iii. p. 51. 



BENEVOLENCE. 89 

singular people keep not only themselves, but all Europe. 
In the English, Scotch, and German head, the organ is large, 
and smaller in the Irish. Scotch prudence and Irish 
thoughtlessness have long been proverbial. It is very large 
in the Hindoo and Peruvian head, and accounts for the 
great timidity of character displayed by these nations, its 
influence not being modified by the counteracting influence 
of Combativeness. 60 



SPECIES II.-SUPERIOR SENTIMENTS. 



13. BENEVOLENCE. 

Where does this organ lie? 

Immediately before the fontanel (or opening of the head, 
as it is vulgarly called), 61 in the upper and middle part of the 
frontal bone ; and it extends downward to the top of the 
forehead. It is known by the elevation which, when large, 
it gives to the middle of the anterior region of the top of 
the head.® 



60 It is observed that when this organ is large, there is also very generally 
an ample development of Cautiousness; and between the functions of the 
two organs a considerable affinity undoubtedly exists. 

61 The fontanel is at the meeting of the coronal and sagittal sutures. In 
the young child it is cartilaginous. From the time of birth it begins to 
contract, and is generally completely ossified and closed between the second 
and third year. 

62 In paintings of the head of Christ, the organs of Benevolence and 
Veneration are represented as greatly developed, while the posterior region 
where the propensities reside, is made exceedingly small. Is thi3 generally 
received likeness of Jesus purely ideal ? If so, it shows that the form of 
head which painters have considered appropriate to an eminently amiable 
and virtuous character, is precisely the same as that assigned to such charac- 



90 BENEVOLENCE. 

Was a high forehead, before the time of Gall, supposed 
to indicate benevolence of disposition ? 

There is reason to believe so. Shakspeare speaks of 
" foreheads villanous low;" and the ancients, in designing 
their deities generally invested them with broad and lofty 
foreheads, thus indicating commanding intellect, and dis- 
tinguished benevolence. The subject, however, was not 
philosophically thought of till Gall took it up, and demon- 
strated that the sentiment depends upon a special organ of 
the brain. 

What effect on the character is produced by a large 
organ f 

The individual is distinguished by the kindness and mercy 
of his disposition. He is generous in his sentiments, averse 
to give pain and uneasiness, charitable, and inclined to 
think well of every body, and do good to all his fellow- 
creatures. Some of the ancient philosophers, such as 
Plato and Socrates, are splendid instances of the beauty and 
power of this noble sentiment. The story of the good 
Samaritan is a fine specimen of benevolent feeling. One of 
the grandest instances on record occurs in the history of 
Sir Philip Sidney, who, when mortally wounded at the 
battle of Zutphen, and suffering under the tortures of 
excessive thirst, presented the water, which he was in the 



ters by phrenologists. Dr. Gall, however, is of opinion, that the above 
representation is not imaginary, but conveys a genuine likeness of the great 
original. " It is at least probable," says he, " that the general type of the 
form of Christ's head has been handed down to us. Saint Luke was a 
painter, and in that capacity, is it not likely that he would wish to preserve 
the features of his Master ? It is certain that this likeness of the Saviour's 
head is of high antiquity : we find it in the most ancient mosaics and paint- 
ings. In the second century, the Gnostics possessed images both of Christ 
and Saint Paul. Hence neither Raphael, nor any painter of more ancient 
date, invented the admirable configuration of head which has been assigned 
to Jesus." 



BENEVOLENCE. 91 

act of raising to his mouth, to a dying soldier whom he saw 
eagerly eyeing it — saying "take that; your want is even 
greater than mine." 63 In Christ's sermon on the Mount we 
have a sublime emanation of blended Benevolence and Con- 
scientiousness. Indeed, throughout the whole of the New 
Testament the supremacy of the moral sentiments shines forth 
with a lustre not to be equalled in any other code of religion 
or morality. 

What happens when the organ is very small? 

The person is careless of the welfare of others, disoblig- 
ing and selfish. Unless he has some end to serve, it will be 
impossible for him to do a kindly action. Such a man can 
never be a true and disinterested friend. Moloch, as repre- 
sented in w Paradise Lost," is an instance of a total destitu- 
tion of this faculty ; and nearly the same may be said of 
Ahab and Jezebel in the book of Kings, of Shakspeare's Iago, 
Moore's Zeluco, and also of Varney, in the romance of 
u Kennil worth." The organ, according to Dr. Gall, was 
very deficient in the head of Robespierre. Some of the 
Roman Emperors, as Domitian, Commodus, Caligula, 
Heliogabolus, and Nero, seem to have been as nearly void 
of the sentiment as we can suppose creatures not absolutely 
denizens of Pandemonium, to be. The busts of these men 



63 " Man," observes Gall, " is generally more good, kind-hearted, and 
just, than he is wicked and unjust. People of simple manners— the com- 
fortable peasant, the industrious artizan, for example, are very benevolent 
towards their equals. We rarely see among them an orphan who fails to 
meet with the assistance which his situation demands. They often treat 
them as they would their own children, and not unfrequently with even 
greater kindness. Seldom do the poor, who knock at their doors, re- 
turn empty-handed : their direct impulse is always one of kindness towards 
the unfortunate." Gall himself had a large organ of Benevolence, and, in 
harmony with this development, was inclined to view human nature with a 
generous eye. Those in whom the organ is small have, from their own 
consciousness, a tendency to think meanly of their fellow-creatures, and to 
form a low estimate of human virtue. 



92 



BENEVOLENCE. 



represent a poor development of Benevolence with a predo- 
minating basilar region. Take as an example ihe sub- 
joined representation of Nero's head. 




May Benevolence co-exist with great roughness of manner? 

Nothing is more common ; but the general tendency of 
the feeling is to communicate sweetness to the disposition, 
and to soften the manners. Some people are absolutely 
ashamed of the Benevolence they possess, and try to hide 
it under a rough exterior : " rough diamonds " of this descrip- 
tion are occasionally to be met with. Dr. Johnson was an 
instance of distinguished Benevolence combined with coarse- 
ness of manners — the fortiter in modo with the suaviter in re. 

What are the abuses of Benevolence ? 

The tendency to yield to every kind of solicitation is one; 
whence the individual becomes the prey of mendicants and 



BENEVOLENCE. 



93 



impostors : he impoverishes himself to do good to others, 
and has his brain constantly filled with Utopian schemes of 
philanthropy. 64 

Have the lower animals this organ ? 

They have, to some extent. In them it shows itself 
chiefly by tractability and gentleness. A good tempered 
dog or horse can be known by the shape of the head. The 




13 Benevolence large. 
5 Combativeness small. 



13 Benevolence small 
5 Combativeness large. 



celebrated race horse " Flying Childers," had a very low 
and flat forehead, and his temper was extremely vicious. 
In the spaniel and Newfoundland dog, both distinguished 
for goodness of temper, the organ is much larger than 
in the bull-dog, whose dispositions are naturally morose 
and savage. The roebuck, which is a mild-tempered animal, 
has a prominence, and the chamois, which is the reverse, a 
depression over the region of Benevolence. 



64 I know several individuals in this situation, and in the whole of them 
there is great height of forehead— in other words, a large development of 
the organ of Benevolence. The fanciful impracticabilities of Mr. Owen 
seem to result from the immoderate action of this organ, combined with that 
of Hope in excess. 



94 VENERATION. 



14. VENERATION. 

What is the nature of the faculty connected with this 
organ f 

It may be described as that feeling which produces vener- 
ation in general, or respect for those whom we consider 
worthy of reverence. When directed to the Supreme 
Being, it gives the tendency to religious adoration. Some 
persons object to there being an organ in the brain which 
gives the tendency to religious feeling, on the ground that 
such an idea is hostile to the doctrine of a revelation; but 
this, as Spurzheim remarks, is an unfounded objection — 
religion of one kind or another having existed long before 
the dates of the Old and New Testaments, in which the 
Christian revelation is handed down to us. The emotion 
communicated by this organ is, in itself, blind, and gives no 
insight into the truth or falsehood of a religion. The 
soundness or unsoundness of any creed is tested by another 
set of faculties, viz. the Intellectual, and cannot be taken 
cognizance of by a mere sentiment which simply feels, and 
is incapable of reasoning. In reference to the present faculty, 
Mr. Combe finely observes that " as Nature has implanted the 
organs of Veneration and Wonder in the brain, and the 
corresponding sentiments in the mind, it is a groundless 
terror to apprehend that religion can ever be extinguished, or 
even endangered, by the arguments or ridicule of the pro- 
fane. Forms of worship may change, and particular religi- 
ous tenets may now be fashionable and subsequently fall 
into decay; but while the human heart continues to beat, 
awe and veneration for the Divine Being will ever animate 
the soul : the worshipper will cease to kneel, and the hymn 
of adoration to rise, only when the race of man becomes 
extinct." 



VENERATION. 95 

Where is the organ situated ? 

Immediately behind that of Benevolence, and directly 
over the fontanel. It occupies the middle of the top of the 
head. The annexed engraving of the head of St. Bruno 
displays a great development of the organ. Benevolence is 
also very large. Such a configuration of brain is highly 
favourable to religion and virtue. Men so constituted are a 
law unto themselves. They revere their Maker, and have 
an instinctive tendency to love and treat with tenderness 
the whole human race. 




This organ was large in the head of Voltaire: why then 
was he an infidel ? 

Because he was not convinced of the divine origin of 
Christianity. No man can venerate what he does not con- 
ceive to be true. Voltaire, however, venerated the Deity, 
of whose existence he entertained no doubt. 66 The respect 

66 See " Observations on some Objections to Phrenology, founded on a 
part of the Cerebral Development of Voltaire," by Mr. Simpson.— Phreno- 
logicalJouimal, vol. iii. p. 564. 



96 VENERATION. 

which this writer showed for princes, and the gratification 
he experienced in associating with them arose undoubtedly 
from his large Veneration. 

May a person believe in a particular leligion, and yet 
have little Veneration? 

Undoubtedly. Belief may be a matter of pure reason, 
though, in general, the judgment is swayed by the feelings. 
The merely intellectual believer, however, will never be a 
very ardent disciple of that religion in which his faith is placed. 
He may believe in a Great First Cause without inclining to 
adore. 

Under what other forms does the faculty display itself? 

In a respect for rank, for existing institutions, for anti- 
quity, and for the ruling powers. It is the grand natural 
maintainer of subordination of the lower ranks to the higher, 
and of the submission of children to parents and teachers. 
A person w T ith this sentiment strong, is overawed in coming 
into the presence of those whose rank or other valued dis- 
tinction, is greatly superior to his own. 67 Such persons, if 
their intellect is not of that respectable order which disposes 
them to appreciate intellectual characers, will be more flat- 
tered by the acquaintanceship of a silly lord than by that of 
such a man as Locke or Newton. 



(57 " The faculty may be manifested in reverence for Jupiter, or the Lama 
of Thibet, or graven images, or the God of the universe ; for crocodiles, 
cats, or the Great Mogul, or Catholic priests, or Presbyterian ministers, or 
rusty coins, or a titled aristocracy, or the ornaments and furniture of a 
church. To those who have it disproportionately strong, the word ' old ' is 
synonymous with ' venerable ;' and in their view, no institution or doctrine, 
how-ever hurtful and absurd, is, if sanctioned by antiquity, to be at all 
meddled with. They obstinately adhere to the religious tenets instilled 
into them in childhood, and will not listen to arguments tending to support 
doetrines of a different kind. When, on the other hand, the organ of Vener- 
ation is moderate, and the intellect is acute and enlightened, the individual, 
unwarped by prejudice and feeling, regards only the intrinsic merits of the 
doctrines and institutions which prevail around him, and shapes his opinions 
accordingly." — Phrenological Journal, vol. viii. p. 598. 



VENERATION. 97 

Whence arises the love for collecting antiques ? 

From Veneration combined with Acquisitiveness. The 
first disposes us to value the object on account of its anti- 
quity ; the second makes us long to possess it. People with 
small Veneration have little abstract love for any thing, 
merely because it is ancient. 

Does Veneration display itself in the same way with 
every one ? 

No ; it is directed very much by the other faculties. A 
man of high intellect and Veneration will venerate intellec- 
tual characters ; another, with Veneration and Combative- 
ness, great warriors ; and a third, with Veneration and 
Acquisitiveness, will venerate the rich. The two former, on 
beholding the cross, the hunting horn, or the bones of 
Charlemagne, in the church at Aix-la-Chapelle, will feel 
deep awe at the sight of these relics of so renowned a states- 
man and hero ; the third, having no sympathy with valour 
and genius, will gaze upon them unmoved, while he would 
look with sensations of great respect, and even awe, upon 
such a man as Mr. Rothschild. It is to be observed, 
however, that a powerful and cultivated understanding tends 
to keep Veneration within rational bounds. 

When the organ is strongly excited, in what manner does 
it affect the character? 

In producing keen religious or devotional feelings, ter- 
minating sometimes even in madness. 

How happens it that irreligious people sometimes become, 
all of a sudden, very devout?^ 

This proceeds from sudden excitement of the organs of 
Veneration and Wonder. The individual has, probably, 

68 It also oftentimes happens that, in cases of serious illness,, people be- 
come very religious, who, for many years previous, exhibited no devotional 
feeling. This, I believe, may often be accounted for, on the well known 
principle of cerebral excitement reviving- lost ideas. The brain is stimu-, 

E 



98 VENERATION. 

been exposed to circumstances which call them into activity, 
as the declamation of some enthusiastic preacher, and the 
result is a vehement fit of religion, which continues so long 
as the stimulus operates on the brain. 

A person then may become religious whether his organ of 
Veneration be large or small, seeing that a small organ may 
be stimulated as well as a large one? 

It is only the predominating organs that are very likely to 
be excited ; a small organ is by no means equally liable to 
be acted upon in this manner, and when really stimulated, 
does not give rise to the same intensity of feeling. If it 
were so acted upon, the person would be religious com- 
pared to what he formerly was, but still his feelings on this 
point would be far inferior in energy to those of another 
person, with a larger organ of Veneration in the same state 
of excitement. 69 

May a person have a great deal of religious feeling and 
yet not be virtuous ? 

Undoubtedly : witness the instances of Louis XI. of France, 
Philip II. of Spain, Catherine de' Medici, and the " Bloody" 
Queen Mary, all of them religious devotees, and yet most 

lated by the disease, and the religious impressions instilled into us in child- 
hood are brought back to cheer the sufferer on the bed of sickness, and 
smooth his path to the grave. Various instances of the resuscitative power 
of excited brain are given in this work. 

69 An acquaintance with Phrenology must be of great use in preventing 
people from running into fanaticism, and in allaying religious melancholy. If 
a man knows that such violent states of feeling arise from excitement exist- 
ing in his brain, he will set about counteracting them ; whereas, when 
he is ignorant of this fact, he will be apt to mistake the impression under 
which he labours for the effect of some supernatural cause; and the illu- 
sion, instead of being checked, will probably go on increasing, till it termi- 
nates in madness. An eminent phrenologist informs me, that he is ac- 
quainted with several ladies who have actually been reclaimed from fanati- 
cism by studying Phrenology. I believe the statement, and can easily imagine 
that a knowledge of this science will go far to check the accession of most 
forms of lunacy- 



VENERATION. 99 

worthless characters. If the precepts, however, which a 
religion inculcates are, in themselves, of a strictly moral 
character, the respect for their authority inspired by this 
sentiment, will naturally tend to make people more virtuous. 
The precepts of Christianity are of this kind, and when 
strictly followed, can only lead to sound morality : those of 
some other forms of religion being depraved, conduce to 
vice. The Hindoo who throws his child beneath the wheels 
of the car of Juggernaut, acts as much under the influence 
of Veneration, as the enlightened Christian who worships 
the true God. The difference consists in this, that in the 
one case it is a misdirected impulse, in the other, it is an 
impulse guided by reason. 

In which sex is the feeling of Veneration more energetic f 
In the female. Women are more susceptible of religious 
impressions than men, and are generally the first to be 
caught by new doctrines. They have also a greater ten- 
dency to respect rank, and are naturally aristocratic in their 
ideas. Few women are enamoured of republican principles. 70 
Self-Esteem being weaker and Veneration stronger in 



70 Some years ago, religious monomania was exceedingly common in the 
West of Scotland, among a class of people who went by the name of 
Rowites. These fanatics were mostly young females, in the middle and 
upper classes of society ; and the extent to which they carried their insane 
ravings was most astounding. An enthusiastic young woman was the 
High Priestess of this sect: her they supposed to be divinely commissioned, 
and even gifted with the power of working miracles. At length she left 
the place, and the excitement of her presence being withdrawn, the mania 
subsided. I agree with Dr. Mackintosh in thinking, that a few weeks' work 
on the tread-mill, with scanty fare, would have cured of their fantasies the 
over-fed and idle young ladies who indulged in this egregious folly. The 
reader will find in the ninth volume of the Phrenological Journal a series 
of acute and instructive papers on this kind of insanity, entitled " Observa- 
tions on Religious Fanaticism : illustrated in a comparison of the belief and 
conduct of noted religious enthusiasts with those of patients in the Montrose 
Lunatic Asylum," By W. A. Browne, Esq., the superintendent of that 
institution. 



100 



FIRMNESS. 



women than in men, nature has obviously intended that this 
sex should be led by, and obey, the other. 

What were the circumstances which lighted up the fires of 
Smithfieldy and prompted the massacre of St, Bartholomew? 

These horrible immolations of innocent persons at the 
shrine of bigotry, seem to have resulted from a violent excite- 
ment of this organ, combined with great Destructiveness 
and Self-Esteem, and a lamentable lack of Benevolence 
and knowledge. A w r eak or uninformed intellect, acting 
under the inspiration of excited religious feeling, would make 
the perpetrators imagine they were doing a deed highly 
acceptable to the Deity ; and Destructiveness coming into 
play, and not being counteracted by Benevolence, would 
urge them on fiercely to the commission of these diabolical 
atrocities. 

15. FIRMNESS. 

Where is this organ situated? 

Behind that of Veneration, on the summit of the head, to 
which, when very large, it gives a towering appearance. 




What is the nature of its faculty? 
The name sufficiently designates this. 



When it is very 



FIRMNESS. 101 

large, the individual is distinguished for great perseverance. 
Whatever he undertakes, whether for good or evil, he pur- 
sues steadily ; and the general cast of his mind is firm and 
decided. He encounters misfortunes heroically, and endures 
physical pain with unshrinking stoicism. He is not to be 
turned from his purposes, but is rather apt to be unyielding 
and obstinate. There are great differences in people as to 
their capability of resisting solicitation. This, other things 
being equal, arises from the different degrees in which they 
are endowed with Firmness. The faculty tends to keep the 
other powers of the mind in a state of continuous action, 
enabling those higly gifted with it to pursue steadily the 
natural bent of their talents. Where the development is 
small, the person is fickle and infirm of purpose. He may 
possess excellent abilities, but from want of perseverance 
they are not properly cultivated and brought out. Instability 
and indecision of character are uniformly accompanied with 
a deficient size of the organ : and these qualities appear still 
more prominent where, along with such deficiency, there is 
a large development of Cautiousness. 

What is obstinacy ? 

Obstinacy is an abuse of Firmness, and the result of a 
great development of this organ, with small or moderate 
Conscientiousness. A strictly honest man can never be long 
or wilfully obstinate, however great his Firmness : the latter 
always gives way before what he conceives to be the dictates 
of justice. 

Is it possible to have loo much Firmness ? 

When the dispositions are naturally virtuous, and the 
intellect good, this is impossible, as the faculty in question 
only leads them more strongly and perseveringly in their 
natural current. When, however, there is a predominance 
of vice in the character, great Firmness may act perniciously, 
by causing an obstinate perseverance in evil. 



102 CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 

In what characters would you expect to find the organ 
large ? 

In those who show unshaken constancy and indomitable 
perseverance. It must have been large in Luther and 
Knox. King Robert Bruce's skull shows a great deve- 
lopment of it ; and he evinced the feeling to a wonderful 
degree. It is large in those who manifest great determina- 
tion in crime, as Haggart ; and also in those whose steadi- 
ness of friendship nothing can shake. The firmness of 
Captains Ross and Parry is well known, and the organ is 
very ample in the heads of those eminent navigators. I am 
told that it is remarkably large in General Jackson, the Ame- 
rican President, a man whose firmness of purpose borders 
on obstinacy. The North American Indians are remarkable 
for their unconquerable fortitude, and the dogged indiffer- 
ence with which they submit to the most horrible tortures : 
in them it is greatly developed. It must have been very 
large in Marshal Ney, who possessed astonishing firmness 
of character. 

16. CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 

In what manner does the faculty connected with this organ 
display itself? 

In inducing sentiments of strict justice. 71 He in whom it 
is strongly manifested is a person of stern integrity : he pays 
his debts, does what he considers his duty, and is incapable 
of dissimulation or falsehood — adhering, in its strictest sense, 
to the noble maxim of doing unto others as he would be done 
by. Such a man will rather die of starvation than steal — 



71 "The laws of honour, as apprehended by some minds, are founded on 
the absence of Conscientiousness, with gTeat predominance of Self-Esteem 
and Love of Approbation. If a gentleman is conscious that he has unjustly 
given offence to another, it is conceived by many that he will degrade him- 
self by making an apology ; that it is his duty to fight, but not to acknow- 



CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 



103 



rather go to the block than violate the dictates of his con- 
science. If he commits a wrong he is the first to acknow- 
ledge it, and feels uneasy till he makes ample reparation. He 
has, in short, a vivid and peculiar pleasure in acting honestly. 

Where is the organ situated? 

At each side of Firmness. 




Large Conscientiousness. 

What follows when the organ is small ? 
Lying, theft, hypocrisy, evil-speaking, dissimulation, and 
general want of principle are apt to be the consequences of 



ledge himself in fault. This is the feeling produced by powerful Self- Esteem 
and Love of Approbation, with great deficiency of Conscientiousness. 
Self-Esteem is mortified by an admission of fallibility, while Love of Appro- 
bation suffers under the feeling that the esteem of the world will be lost 
by such an acknowledgment; and if no higher sentiment be present in a 
sufficient degree, the wretched victim will go to the field and die in support 
of conduct that is indefensible . When Conscientiousness i3 strong, the 
possessor feels it no degradation to acknowledge himself in fault, when he 
is aware that he is wrong : in fact, he rises in his own esteem by doing so, 
and knows that he acquires the respect of the world ; while, if fully con- 
scious of being in the right, there is none more inflexible than he. " — Combe's 
System of Phrenology, Uh edition, vol. i., p. 358. 



104 CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 

such an unfortunate configuration, the propensities being 
left in a great measure unbridled. 




Small Conscientiousness. 

May a deficiency of the sentiment display itself otherwise 
than in the commission of what society would deem crimes? 

Yes. The not keeping appointments and promises, the 
telling of " white lies," jilting, coquetry, quibbling, profess- 
ional quackery and humbug, writing impertinent anonymous 
letters, puffing trashy works, giving false characters to 
servants, borrowing books and umbrellas and not return- 
ing them, taking possession of another man's seat in the 
theatre or coach, knowing that you have no right to do 
so, and that it will put him to inconvenience, are all breaches 
of honesty, and indicate a small or moderate development of 
the organ. Divulging secrets with which we are entrusted, 
is another violation of the sentiment, frequently committed 
by people who would be very much astonished at being 
told they were not perfectly honest. 

Is a deficiency of Concientiousness ever consistent with the 
enjoyment of a fair reputation? 

Nothing is more common. Many who are not by nature 



CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 105 

honest, act honestly in matters of business, because it is their 
interest to do so ; but such persons will be found constantly 
violating the minor branches of honesty, such as those men- 
tioned, when no particular evil arises to themselves from 
the violation. Men previously considered honest, some- 
times become bankrupt under disgraceful circumstances, 
involving their friends in one common ruin, and recklessly 
sacrificing, for the purpose of saving themselves, every human 
being on whom they can lay hold. This is the result of 
small Conscientiousness. So long as things go well, the 
man acts with integrity ; but when he finds that upright con- 
duct will only hasten the crisis of his fate, his small modicum 
of Conscientiousness goes to sleep, and he has recourse to 
every dishonest expedient to put off the evil day. 72 

What is remorse? 

That distressful state of mind arising from Conscientious- 
ness or Benevolence when outraged. If a man, in an un- 



72 Every now and then, we hear of persons who had previously led an 
upright life, running off with large sums of money, to the no small astonish, 
ment of their friends, who are surprised at so unaccountable a change of 
character, as they term it. There is, however, no change of any kind. 
The individuals are, in every respect, precisely the same as they were before 
committing the felonious act ; but they have been placed in different circum- 
stances, and a seeming change is thus produced in their minds. If a young 
man, for instance, with moderate Conscientiousness is shopman to a linen 
draper, and obliged to account every night for the money which he draws in 
during the day, he may act with perfect honesty, as the temptation to steal 
is comparatively small, the produce of a single day's sale, being all he could 
possibly appropriate ; but supposing him, in virtue of his sobriety, obliging 
disposition, attention to business, and dexterity in arithmetic, to be appointed 
head clerk to the establishment, and entrusted, from time to time, with large 
sums of money, it is perfectly possible that he may act very differently. 
His feeble sense of Conscientiousness may be unequal to the enormously 
increased temptation to which it is exposed^and nothing is more likely than, 
that he should play the thief. This we hear of every day. Such cases 
would be far less frequent, or rather they would not happen at all, were the 
discriminative powers of Phrenology brought into play in the choice of con- 
fidential servants. 

e2 



106 CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 

guarded moment, does any thing of which either of these 
faculties strongly disapproves, the pain arising from such 
disapproval constitutes remorse. 

Do all who commit crimes feel the pangs of remorse? 

They do not. Where Conscientiousness is very deficient, 
especially if Benevolence is in the same condition, no remorse 
whatever is experienced, though nothing is more common 
than the belief to the contrary, even among enlightened men. 
It is a great mistake to suppose that all the wicked are 
tortured by the pangs of conscience. Bellingham felt no 
remorse for the murder of Mr. Perceval, nor did Hare for 
his still more diabolical deeds. 73 When such wretches 
escape the gallows, they are more frequently punished by 
the abhorence of society than by any internal feeling arising 
from conscience. The mark of Cain is set upon them, and 
they walk the earth, outcasts from the human race. 

73 William Burke, whose Benevolence was not so small as that of Bel- 
ling-ham and Hare, though sadly overpowered by the predominance of his 
lower propensities, experienced the horrors of remorse to a great degree. 
He stated that, for a long time after the commission of his first murder, he 
felt it utterly impossible to banish for a single hour the recollection of the 
fatal struggle he had with his victim — the screams of distress and despair — 
the agonizing groans, and all the realities of the dreadful deed. At night, 
the bloody tragedy, accompanied by frightful visions of supernatural beings, 
tormented him in his sleep. For a long time, he shuddered on being alone 
in the dark, and during the night kept a candle constantly burning in his 
room. Even to the last, he could not overcome the repugnance of his moral 
nature to murder — such a glimmer of Benevolence as he had, was always 
in his way admonishing him j and this he had to extinguish in the fumes of 
whisky before he was able to overcome its influence. He positively asserted 
that he could not have committed murder when perfectly sober. In his head 
the organ of Conscientiousness was not so small as in most atrocious cri- 
minals—hence his visions of remorse. 

The following is an instance of the absence of remorse. Many years ago, 
a wretch was broken upon the wheel at Lyons, for some shocking murders 
which he had committed. After having his limbs broken to pieces, the 
monster, just as he was expiring, laughed aloud, and upon being asked by 
the executioner what was the cause of his merriment, said he could not help 
feeling amused at the recollection of the grimaces made by a certain spoon- 
maker, into whose mouth he had poured melted tin. 



CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 107 

In what class of persons is an ample endowment of Con- 
scientiousness especially requisite? 

No human being exists in whom a deficiency of this 
most god-like of all the faculties is not to be deplored. It 
is in a peculiar manner necessary, however, to judges on the 
bench, ministers of state, confidential servants, and all 
entrusted with onerous and important duties. Justice, in 
fact, is merely the manifestation of Conscientiousness. 

Can this faculty be abused? 

Yes, especially by weak-minded people. An honest 
man, for instance, if his understanding be so weak that he 
does not see the unjust tendency of an action, may persist 
in doing it, in the belief that he is really performing his duty. 
Another abuse of the faculty is an absurd adherence to 
pernicious principles which the person believes to be right. 
Excessive remorse and self-condemnation, where there are 
no circumstances to justify such feelings to half the extent in 
which they are experienced, are also abuses of Conscien- 
tiousness. 

Do you affirm that all actions prompted by Conscientious- 
ness are not necessarily just ? 

I do. This sentiment being a blind feeling, merely impels 
us to act justly and must- be aided by the intellect in deter- 
mining what is just. A man, for instance, may think that 
his action will realize the dictates of justice, whereas, had 
his intellect or knowledge been greater, he would have 
seen that the reverse would be the case. 

Is great delight experienced in the exercise of this 
faculty f 

Greater than perhaps from any other. " Honesty is its 
own reward." By acting in obedience to Conscientiousness, 
a man may involve himself in poverty, or meet with impri- 
sonment and torture ; still the consolation derived from his 
own integrity of purpose supports him : he is recompensed 



10S HOPE. 

by the approval of his conscience, and rejoices even in the 
midst of suffering. 74 

17. HOPE. 

Describe the position and function of this organ. 

It lies on each side of Veneration, and its tendency is to 
produce the feeling of Hope. If the other faculties desire any 
thing, this one disposes us to believe in the possibility of their 
longings being gratified. An acquisitive person, for instance, 
will have a strong hope or expectation of being able to 
obtain money, should the faculty under consideration be 
powerful. Nor does this depend upon reflection ; for when 
reason tells us that the chances are all the other way, we 
often continue hoping, and console ourselves with the idea 
of ultimate success. 

What good purpose does this faculty serve? 

It induces us to take gay and pleasant views of the future, 
and keeps up our spirits in the midst of misfortune : though 
clouds lower around us we are cheered with the expectation 
of speedy sunshine. Mungo Park in his desolate sojournings 
in Africa, and Sir John Ross in his miserable Polar solitude 
of four years, must have been powerfully supported by the in- 
fluence of this organ. One of Ross's men died of sheer 
despondency, which would not have happened had he pos- 
sessed the sentiment in vigour. The strong hope of a reprieve 



74 A beautiful instance of the power of Conscientiousness was witnessed 
by Dr. Smollett. Walking- along the streets of Glasgow, a beggar, in 
great apparent misery, solicited charity of the doctor, who, putting his hand 
into his pocket, gave him what he supposed to be a shilling, but which was, 
in reality, a guinea. The beggar supposing that a mistake was committed, 
ran after his benefactor and tendered him the golden gift. " Good God! " 
exclaimed Smollett, on witnessing this act of integrity, " in what a habita- 
tion has honesty taken up her abode! " It need hardly be added that the 
generous novelist made this upright mendicant keep what he had received, 
as a reward for his admirable conduct. 



109 



has sustained the spirits of malefactors till within an hour of 
their being brought upon the scaffold. Mary M'Innes, 
while under sentence of death for murder, never lost the 
hope of being pardoned. 

What is the result of a small organ of Hope? 

The person is prone to despondency. He never takes 
cheering views of the future, and is surprised when any thing 
lucky occurs. People of this turn of mind are seldom disap- 
pointed, which is the only good that ever results from 
moderate Hope. In suicides, and those who view a future 
state with apprehension, we should expect the organ to be 
small in proportion to that of Cautiousness. Deficient Hope 
with large Cautiousness and Destructiveness predisposes to 
self-destruction. 75 

What are the abuses of Hope? 

Rashness, credulity, and high expectations, not founded on 
reason. Those who u build castles in the air," gamblers, 
dabblers in lotteries and in the funds, are all much imbued 
with the sentiment of Hope. 

What effect has Hope upon a person's religion f 

It disposes to faith in agreeable views, and in particular 
to strong belief of a happy state of being in a life to come. 

18. WONDER. 

Where is the organ of Wonder situated? 
Immediately above Ideality. 
What is its function f 

To inspire a love of the strange, the new, and the mar- 
vellous. It gives a fondness for supernatural stories, and a 

75 Suicide is sometimes hereditary. Dr. Gall mentions a family where 
the great-grandfather, the grandfather, and the father all destroyed them- 
selves. Another he speaks of where the grandmother, her sister, and the 
mother did the same. The daughter attempted to throw herself out of a 
window, and the son hanged himself. 



1 10 



love of visiting mysterious and unfrequented countries ; it 
also disposes to the belief in miracles, witches, and apparitions, 
and to superstition in general. It is not, however, the only 
source of the latter : ill directed and excessive Veneration, by 
disposing to belief in the assertions, however absurd, of revered 
authority, sometimes leads to superstitious opinions, especially 
when coupled with ignorance and weakness of intellect. 

Name a few individuals in whom you would expect to find 
a large organ of Wonder. 

I should look for it in such persons as Hoffmann, Radcliffe, 
Coleridge, and the Ettrick Shepherd. The Devils' Elixir, 
the Mysteries of Udolpho, Christabel, and Kilmenny, are all 
strongly characterised by the sentiment of Wonder. 

Have persons who see apparitions, generally the organ 
large? 

This fact seems to be well established. In the portraits 
of Tasso, who was visited by a familiar spirit, the organ 
appears large, giving his head that rounded fulness im- 
mediately above Ideality which is possessed by all who have 
a large development of the organ. It is very large in the 
head of Earl Grey, who is haunted by the apparition of a 
bloody head ; and a crowd of cases have been collected by 
Dr. Gall and others, which seem to place the matter beyond 
a doubt. When Gall first saw Earl Grey, he said to a friend 
who stood by — " That man beholds visions." These facts 
are curious, and apparently incredible, but nevertheless they 
are supported by powerful evidence. 

Why should a mere sentiment induce the seeing of visions* 
which is an intellectual operation ? 

The organ of Wonder cannot of itself do this, but it pos- 
sesses the peculiar, though unaccountable, power of stimula- 
ting the perceptive organs, and thus exciting them to undue 
activity. Thus stimulated, they may conjure up false 
images and cause the person to imagine that he sees visions, 



IDEALITY. 



Ill 



Is the organ peculiarly liable to excitement? 

More so than most others. A fanatical preacher, by 
calling it into activity, will infect with his zeal a whole 
parish. Such was the case with Irving, Campbell, and 
other well-meaning but deluded enthusiasts — to say nothing 
of the notorious Joanna Southcote. During the persecutions 
in Scotland, excitement of this organ seems to have been 
exceedingly common among the Covenanters. 

19. IDEALITY. 

Where does this organ lie ? 

On the side of the head, over the temples. Above, it is 
bounded by Hope and Wonder, behind by Cautiousness, and 
below by Acquisitiveness. In the following likeness of the 
poet Tasso it is well developed. 




What is the nature of the faculty connected with it? 

It consists in a taste for the graceful, the beautiful, and 



112 



the sublime. All things which partake of these qualities 
gratify it. The savage desolation of Glenco, the awful gloom 
and sublimity of Chamouni, the graceful loveliness of Win- 
dermere, a beautiful woman, a lovely child, the Belvidere 
Apollo — all such objects stimulate the organ, and give rise 
to emotions of the grand or the beautiful. Painting, sculpture, 
and poetry, the loveliness of the moonlight hour, and the 
gorgeous majesty of sunset, are all dear to him who is gifted 
with Ideality. 

Why, in some persons, is Ideality most highly gratified by 
the beautiful, in others by the sublime ? 

Destructiveness and Cautiousness, in combination with 
Ideality, are conjectured to give a love of the sublime in 
particular. Where a love of the beautiful predominates over 
that of the grand and the terrible, the two former are proba- 
bly of more moderate dimensions. Destructiveness, which 
seems to take an interest in desolation, may give Ideality a 
bias towards the dreary sublime, while Cautiousness appears 
to be an ingredient in love of the terrible. The subject, 
however, stands in need of farther elucidation. 

Will Ideality alone make a painter or a poet? 

No ; but it gives that imaginative feeling or enthusiasm 
which enters so largely into the composition of both. To 
excel in these arts other faculties are requisite ; the painter 
requiring Form, Size, Colouring, and Constructiveness, and 
the poet Language, to embody his conceptions. Ideality, in 
conjunction with one or more of these intellectual faculties, 
produces what is called Imagination. 

Mention a few individuals eminently gifted with Ideality. 

iEschylus, Pindar, Shakspeare, Milton, Spenser, and 
Ariosto, among poets; Raphael, Michael Angelo, and 
Salvator Rosa among painters ; Thorwalsden and Flaxman 
among sculptors. The works of these great men display 
the faculty in all its vigour. 



IDEALITY. 113 

What is the character of a person who has a great endow' 
ment of Ideality ? 

His language is generally elevated, his conceptions flow 
from him rapidly and eloquently, his conversation displays 
much richness, his illustrations are copious and varied, and 
he abounds in figurative language. This is peculiarly the 
case where the organs of Language and Comparison are 
also large. The style of Lord Bacon is replete with Ideality. 

When the organ is small, is the character materially dif- 
ferent? 

Yes. The manners, thoughts, and conversation of the indi- 
vidual are homely and unadorned. He seldom or never uses 
poetical language. Grand or beautiful objects do not strike 
him forcibly, or throw him into raptures. He is a plain, matter- 
of-fact man, who boasts largely of his common sense, and 
affects a great contempt for poetry, and other imaginative 
productions. The organ is small in the heads of Locke, 
Mr. Joseph Hume, and Cobbett. 76 

Is the faculty sharpened or blunted by old age? 

Age impairs Ideality more than almost any other faculty. 
Old people seldom display any of it, 'although there are 
very eminent exceptions, such as Homer, Milton, Goethe, 
and Titian. 



76 Cobbett's remarks on Milton are ludicrously characteristic of his defi- 
cient Ideality. " It has," says he, " become of late years the fashion to extol 
the virtues of potatoes, as it has been to admire the writings of Milton and 
Shakspeare. God, almighty and all fore-seeing, first permitting his chief 
angel to be disposed to rebel against him j his permitting him to enlist whole 
squadrons of angels under his banners ; his permitting the devils to bring 
cannon into this battle in the clouds ; his permitting one devil or angel, I 
forget which, to be split down the middle, from crown to crotch, as we split 
a pig ; his permitting the two halves, intestines and all, to go slap up together 
again, and become a perfect body ; his then permitting all the devil host to be 
tumbled headlong into a place called hell, of the local situation of w r hich, no man 
can have an idea j . his causing gates (iron gates, too) to be erected to keep 
the devil in; his permitting him to get out, nevertheless, and to come and 



114 IDEALITY. 

What are the abuses of Ideality? 

Extravagance of thought, absurd enthusiasm, flightiness, 
and a tendency to see every thing through a false medium. 
It requires strong reflecting powers, and much self-command, 
to restrain the ebullitions of excessive Ideality. Bombast, 
in speaking or writing, results from Ideality and Language, 
with deficient intellect. This kind of composition is very 
apt to impose upon people whose reflecting faculties are 
weak and knowledge very limited. With them it passes for 
true sublimity ; and the orator, preacher, or poet, who uses 
it is looked upon as a first-rate genius. The admiration in 
which the absurd rhapsodies of some clergymen, and the 
inflated effusions of many poetasters are held by a portion 
of the public, is a sufficient verification of this remark. 

Is this a faculty, whose possession is to be envied? 

Judging from the present condition of society, I should say 
that this is a doubtful point. Ideality certainly beautifies the 
mind, and gives rise to the most exquisite emotions ; but, 
unfortunately, dealing, as it does, with much that is imaginary, 
its possessor is apt to become disgusted with the grosser 
realities he must daily encounter. The refined sensibility 
which the faculty, when very active, bestows, is perhaps 
rather a curse ; and the occasional happiness resulting from 
it, frequently more than counterbalanced by the outrages 
which it meets with. 

destroy the peace and happiness of his new creation j his permitting his son 
to take a pair of compasses out of a drawer, to trace the form of the earth ; 
all this, and, indeed, the whole of Milton's poem, is such barbarous trash, 
so outrageously offensive to reason and to common sense, that one is natur- 
ally led to wonder, how it can have been tolerated by a people amongst 
whom astronomy, navigation, and chemistry are understood. But it is the 
fashion to turn up the eyes when * Paradise Lost * is mentioned - 3 and if you 
fail herein, you want taste ; you want judgment even, if you do not admire 
this absurd and ridiculous stuff, when, if one of your relations were to 
write a letter in the same strain, you would send him to a mad-honse, and 
take his estate." 



115 



20. wit. 

Describe the situation of the organ of Wit. 

It lies in the anterior, superior, and lateral parts of the 
forehead. The sketch here given of the head of Rabelais 
exhibits an ample development of it. The width of the upper 
part of his forehead is occasioned by the unusual size of the 
organ. 




What is the nature of the faculty? 

It may be described as that feeling which gives a tendency 
to view things in a ludicrous light, and inspires the sense of 
the ridiculous. Combined with Destructiveness, it leads to 
satire. 

In whom would you expect to find the organ large? 

In gay, mirthful, and facetious people ; in those who 
possess the power of brilliant and humorous repartee, such as 
the celebrated Duchess of Gordon, Lady Wallace, Lord 



116 



Norbury, Harry Erskine ; in such writers as the Rev. 
Sidney Smith, Sterne, Swift, Voltaire, Piron, and Cervantes; 
and in such actors as Garrick, Matthews, and Munden. 
Caricaturists, such as Hogarth, Bunbury, Rowlandson, and 
Cruikshank, must also be well endowed with the organ. 

Is humour synonymous with wit ? 

It is not, although the best species of humour is that which 
is well seasoned with wit. Humour depends greatly upon 
the manner, wit not at all. A witty remark is witty all the 
world over, by whomsoever made, while what is humourous 
from one man, may be quite the reverse from another. " The 
School for Scandal " is a comedy remarkable for wit : " She 
Stoops to Conquer " is as remarkable for humour. 

What follows when the organ is small? 

The person has a natural dislike to drollery. Those who 
deal in it he considers buffons, and wit altogether as a piece 
of impertinence. He hates absurdity, and every thing which 
does not square with the most rigid common sense. 

What are the abuses of the faculty ? 

An incessant tendency to laugh at every thing; an immo- 
derate buoyancy and ebullience of spirits, and an inclination 
to say witty things on all occasions. Rabelais joked on his 
death-bed, and Sir Thomas More on the scaffold ; proofs of 
the ruling passion being strong even in death. Wit is a 
most dangerous talent to be possessed by a badly-disposed 
person. 

Are phrenologists agreed concerning the elementary func- 
tion of this organ f 

No : some are of opinion that it merely gives the ability 
to perceive differences, and that this perception is, in certain 
circumstances, attended with the emotion of the ludicrous. 
The faculty has not yet been satisfactorily analyzed. 



IMITATION. 117 



21. IMITATION. 

Describe the position and function of this organ. 
It lies directly above Causality, and on each side of Benevo- 
lence. Its function is to produce imitation in general: 
mimicry is one of its most active results. 

Is the imitative faculty peculiar to the human subject? 

No. Some of the inferior animals are well endowed with 
it. The monkey, the parrot, the starling, and the mocking- 
bird, have the faculty in great perfection, as well as the 
organ which manifests it. Speaking of the mocking-bird, Dr. 
Mason Good observes, " Its own natural note is delightfully 
musical and solemn ; but, beyond this, it possesses an instinc- 
tive talent of imitating the note of every other singing bird, 
and even the voice of every bird of prey, so exactly as to 
deceive the very kinds it attempts to mock. It is, more- 
over, playful enough to find amusement in the deception, 
and takes a pleasure in decoying smaller birds near it by 
mimicking their notes, when it frightens them almost to death, 
or drives them away with all speed, by pouring upon them 
the screams of such birds of prey as they most dread." 

Do not other organs assist that of Imitation in producing 
mimicry f 

Such undoubtedly is the case. Tune, for instance, adds 
much to the power of imitating voices and other sounds. 
Wit directs the imitative faculty in its own channel, and 
assists it greatly inpourtraying the ludicrous ; while Secretive- 
ness enables the mimic to veil his own peculiarities while 
representing those of another person. To imitate success- 
fully coarse ferocious characters, Destructiveness and general 
large size of brain are necessary. Large Self-Esteem assists 
in representing pomposity, and large Love of Approbation 
in hitting off vanity. Ideality gives richness, beauty, and 



118 IMITATION. 

delicacy to imitations, while Individuality is very essential to 
a successful mimic, by the power of observation which it 
communicates. 77 

Is Imitation necessary for the profession of an actor f 

Eminently so. The process by which the performer merges 
his own character in that represented, is effected by means 
of Imitation and Secretiveness. All distinguished actors 
are good mimics, even in the vulgar sense of the word. 
Such was the case with Garrick, Foote, Kean, and a multi- 
tude of others. Matthews, who was one of the best ever 
known, had a large organ of Imitation. It is found greatly 
developed in good ventriloquists. 

Is it requisite for any other profession? 

It is very necessary for painters — painting, especially por- 
traiture, being essentially an imitative art. Most good 
painters excel in mimicry, and this results from the great 
degree in which they are gifted with the organ. Dramatic 
writers require a large endowment of it. In the likenesses of 
Shakspeare — whether these be authentic or not — it appears 
greatly developed, and so, also, it was in the head of Sir 
Walter Scott, whose writings are highly dramatic. 

Must a person with large Imitation be necessarily a good 
mimic? 

No. The imitative talent may display itself in some 
higher walk than in mere mimicry, as in those mentioned 
above. 



77 The power of a combination of organs in producing mimicry of the 
first order, is well displayed in a gentleman well known to me, and distin- 
guished for the brilliancy and versatility of his talents. The organs of 
Imitation and Secretiveness are greatly developed in his head. Tune is well 
marked, and he has a very fine endowment of Individuality, Wonder, Ide- 
ality, and Wit. Benevolence and Love of Approbation are very large; 
and there is also a large Destructiveness. The head is of great general 
size, and the temperament an extremely active one. In harmony with this 
combination, he possesses mimetical talents of the highest order. He is, 



EXTERNAL SENSES. 119 



ORDER II.— INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 

What faculties are called Intellectual? 

Those which make man and the lower animals acquainted 
with the existence, qualities, and relations of objects. They 
are divided, though not quite accurately as to details, into 
three Genera, — 1st, The External Senses ; 2d, The Internal 
Senses or Perceptive Faculties; and 3d, The Reflective 
Faculties. 

GENUS I.— THE EXTERNAL SENSES. 

What are the External Senses ? 

Those faculties which, by means of organs in direct 
relation with the external world, are the inlets of impressions 
or sensations from without. Some object to calling the 



moreover, an admirable ventriloquist; and his displays in this walk have a 
beauty and supernatural effect — the result of large Ideality and Wonder — 
which I have not heard equalled. His large Benevolence enables him to 
represent successfully good-humoured, his large Wit ridiculous, and his 
large Love of Approbation vain characters. His good endowment of Des- 
tructiveness aids him greatly in representing anger and ferocity; and the 
general size of his brain gives him the power of infusing energy and bold- 
ness, when these are required, into his imitations. In addition to his multi- 
farious accomplishments as a mimic, he possesses incredible power over his 
face, which he can mould into a variety of different aspects, each accurately 
representing a real character ; and so totally unlike are these from one another , 
that while some are striking likenesses of people of twenty-five or thirty, 
others correctly resemble men of fourscore. These changes of face add 
immensely to the effect of his imitations, more especially as he gives, along 
with each particular physiognomy, the exact voice of the person whose 
face is represented. His power of transmuting himself, as it were, into 
other characters, is, indeed, altogether astonishing; and for brilliancy, 
variety, intensity, and sustained power, I never saw any one whose imita- 
tive talents could be put into competition with his. A few of the numerous 
Protean aspects of this incomparable mimic have been sketched for me in a 
very spirited manner, by my friend Mr. Macnee, Portrait Painter in Glasgow. 



120 EXTERNAL SENSES. 

External Senses intellectual faculties. In answer to this, it 
may be stated, that a faculty is a power, and intellectual 
faculties are those which know. The sense of feeling 
knows. It perceives and discriminates sensations of a 
particular kind. True, the nerves do not perceive, but let 
it be remembered, that the senses have cerebral organs, 
probably at the base of the brain. Mutilating experiments 
seem to prove, that if the parts about the medulla oblongata 
are allowed to remain, the senses continue active, notwith- 
standing the removal of the hemispheres. As each ex- 
ternal sense must have a cerebral organ, there is thus no 
absurdity in considering them to be intellectual faculties. 

How many senses are there ? 

Hitherto their number has been limited to five, viz. Feel- 
ing or Touch, Taste, Smell, Hearing, and Sight; but good 
reason has recently been shown for regarding certain nerves 
distributed to the muscles, and discovered by Sir Charles 
Bell, as having reference to a sixth sense — that of Mechani- 
cal Resistance. The following explanation will give some 
idea of this sense : — To enable the muscles to execute the 
mandates of the will, they are connected with the brain by 
the nerves of motion, which are every where distributed 
over them. Till very recently, these nerves of motion were 
supposed to be simple; but Sir Charles Bell has demonstrated, 
that, in reality, each is composed of two nerves, bound up 
in the same sheath, but serving different purposes. One, 
called the Motor nerve, transmits from the brain to the 
muscle the nervous stimulus necessary to produce the 
desired contraction and, consequently, motion; while the 
other, that of the sense of Mechanical Resistance, gives 
the brain information as to the state of the muscle whose 
contraction is desired, thus enabling the brain to send to it 
the exact amount of nervous stimulus necessary for accom- 
plishing the intended effort. By " the state of the muscles," 



EXTERNAL SENSES. 121 

is meant the existing degree of their contraction — in other 
words, the force which they are exerting against a resisting 
body.?8 

75 it the brain which takes cognizance of impressions, or 
are they perceived by these external organs of the senses ? 

The brain undoubtedly. The external organs have no 
function, but to convey the impressions to the sensorium. 

How is this reconcileable with the fact, that when the 
nerve of sight is impaired, vision is destroyed ? 

The cause is obvious, for if the communicating medium 
which carries the impression to the brain is destroyed, it is 
not to be supposed that the brain can receive the impression. 

Does the brain ever receive, by other means, impressions 
similar to those brought to it by the senses ? 

It occasionally does, but the impressions are false, and 
have no relation to any thing occurring, or existing, without. 
Thus, in consequence of some internal stimulus operating in 
the brain, the blind have sometimes a distinct impression of 
seeing, and the deaf of hearing. The brain, in such cases } 
is stimulated in the same way as by the eyes and ears 
bringing impressions to it, but those external senses being 
incapable of carrying such impressions, the perceptions are, 
of course, fallacious. It sometimes happens, in like manner, 
that people neither blind nor deaf see apparitions and hear 
sounds that have no existence without. This occurs in 
consequence of the brain or nerves being affected by disease, 
in the same way as they are influenced in health by external 
impressions. 



78 See a very able and elaborate essay by Mr. Simpson, in the 43d Num- 
ber of the Phrenological Journal, where the functions of the motor nerve, 
and nerve of mechanical resistance, are clearly and satisfactorily distin- 
guished and illustrated. 



122 



INDIVIDUALITY. 



GENUS II THE PERCEPTIVE, OR KNOWING 

FACULTIES. 

SPECIES I.— INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES WHICH TAKE COG- 
NIZANCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS 
AND THEIR PHYSICAL QUALITIES. 

22. INDIVIDUALITY. 

Describe the position of this organ. 

It lies in the centre and lower part of the forehead, im- 
mediately above the root of the nose. Both it and Locality 
are represented as largely developed in the following sketch 
of the head of Pope Martin V. : 




22. Individuality. 27. Locality. 



What is the nature of its faculty ? 

To give an aptitude for observing and remembering ob- 
jects, without any reference to their qualities, or the purposes 



INDIVIDUALITY. 123 

served by them. For instance, two persons, one with a 
large, the other with a small development, enter a room 
together: the first notices every thing presented to his 
senses — the chairs, the pictures, the ornaments — and re- 
members accurately what he sees; the other has little ten- 
dency of the kind. Objects do not strike him with any 
thing like the same force, although he may be otherwise a 
very superior man. Farther, it gives the memory of facts 
which are not events. It recollects, for example, that pla- 
tina is heavier than gold, that salt water supports bodies 
better than fresh, that the tower of Strasburgh cathedral is 
very high, and so on. If we read Peregrine Pickle, it will 
enable us to remember that Jack Hatchway had a wooden 
leg, and that Commodore Trunnion was blind of an eye, 
but the power of recollecting the varied adventures of these 
characters depends on another organ — that of Eventuality. 

To what class of persons is a good endowment of Indi- 
viduality especially useful? 

It is a valuable faculty to the naturalist, the physician, 
the lawyer, and merchant — to all, in short, who are obliged 
to load their memory with numerous details. 

What is the character of those who have the organ large f 

They are clever observant persons, with a great aptitude 
for remembering such facts as we have mentioned. Nothing 
escapes them; but they are often incapable of reasoning 
upon the knowledge they possess, and very frequently shal- 
low; reflection and profundity depending upon a higher 
order of faculties. 79 A man who has Individuality and 



79 " I accompanied two gentlemen to see a great public work, in one of 
whom Individuality was large, and Causality small, and in the other of 
whom the proportions of these organs were reversed. The former, in sur- 
veying the different objects and operations, put question after question to 
the workmen in rapid and long-continued succession ; and nearly all the 
information which he carried away with him was acquired in answer to 



V24 INDIVIDUALITY. 

good reflective organs combined, will be both a quick 
observer and a deep thinker. Watt seems to have been a 
person of this stamp, and Cuvier was another illustrious 
example. 

Are nations variously endowed with this organ? 

Its size varies much in different nations : it is smaller in the 
English than in the French head, and in the Scotch smaller 
than in either. The quickness of observation and aptitude 
for details possessed by the French, depend upon the ample 
endowment which the nation enjoys of this organ. 

Do not the frontal sinuses 80 prove an obstacle to the accu- 
rate ascertainment of the size of Individuality ? 

In the cases of adults and old people, where the sinuses 
are large and approximate closely, they do. The best way 
to ascertain the dimensions of the organ, is to examine the 
heads of young people before the sinuses are formed. Even 
in adults, however, deficiency of the organ can never be 
mistaken. 



specific interrogatories. His mind scarcely supplied a step by its own re- 
flection ; and did not appear to survey the operations as a systematic whole. 
The latter individual looked along- time in silence before he pat a question 
at all ; and when he did ask one, it was, What is the use of that ? The 
answer enabled his own mind to supply a multitude of additional ideas ; he 
proceeded in his examination, and it was only on arriving at another in- 
comprehensible part of the apparatus that he again inquired. At last he 
got through; then turned back, and, with the most apparent satisfaction, 
contemplated in silence the operations from beginning to end as an entire 
system. I heard him afterwards describe what he had seen, and discovered 
that he had carried off a distinct comprehension of the principles and objects of 
the work. It is probable, that a superficial observer would have regarded the 
first as the acute, intelligent, and observing man of genius — the person who 
noticed every thing, and asked about every thing; and the latter as a dull 
uninteresting man, who put only two or three questions, looked heavily, 
and said nothing." — Combe's System, 4th edition, vol. ii. p. 582. 

80 The frontal sinuses are two hollow spaces — one on each side— above 
the root of the nose, formed by the receding of the outer from the inner 
table of the skull. 






125 



23. FORM. 

Where is the organ of Form situated? 

On each side of the crista galli 81 of the ethmoid bone: 
it gives width between the eyes, as may be seen in the 
heads of artists who are eminent for portraiture. Audubon, 
in describing the person of Bewick, the celebrated engraver 
in wood, represents his eyes as being placed farther apart 
from each other than those of any other man he had ever 
seen; and, in accordance with their formation, Bewick's works 
indicate a very admirable perception of form. The follow- 
ing engraving of Vandyke's head represents a large develop- 
ment of the organ : — 




What faculty is connected with this organ f 

81 A small perpendicular projection arising from the upper surface of the 
ethmoid bone. The olfactory nerve, or nerve of smell, lies on each side of 
the crista galli. 



126 size. 

That of perceiving and recollecting forms. People differ 
wonderfully in this respect. One man from taking a glance 
at an object will sketch it accurately: another could not 
give a correct representation were he to labour for a month. 
It is a most material element in the talent for drawing; it 
enables us to take likenesses, and is, in fact, absolutely 
essential to artists of every description. The organ gives 
the power of recollecting faces; of this, George III. was 
a good illustration. It also tends, especially if accom- 
panied with an active Comparison, to the personification of 
abstract ideas ; representing, for instance, time under the 
symbol of an hour glass, or an old man with a scythe, 
innocence as a dove, sin as a serpent, death as a skeleton, 
and so on. It enables the architect to produce noble de- 
signs; and by its aid milliners, mantua-makers, and tailors 
invent patterns, and thus add to the varieties of dress. 

In what nations is it large ? 

It is large in the Chinese, which accounts for the minute, 
and almost frivolous accuracy, of their delineations. It is 
large also in the French, and, I should suppose, in the 
Italian head. 



24. size. 

Describe the situation and function of this organ. 

It lies over the inner angle of the eye, immediately above 
the root of the nose. Its faculty is to give the idea of space, 
and the power of appreciating the dimensions of objects; 
in other words, the quantity of space which they occupy. 
It takes cognizance also of lineal space, or distance. At 
first sight, the function of this organ may seem to be in- 
volved in that of the preceding; but Size is really a differ- 
ent faculty from that which perceives forms. We may have 
a very perfect idea of the shape of a body, and a most in- 



WEIGHT. 127 

accurate one of its bulk. Ask one man the length of a 
certain log of wood, and he will tell you with considerable 
accuracy by merely looking at it; ask another, and he errs 
egregiously. This shows that there must be a special organ 
for Size. 

Is a good development useful to an artist ? 

It is, by enabling him to give each part of the represen- 
tation its proper size; in other words, to keep the propor- 
tions accurate. To the landscape-painter it is probably of 
great use, the accurate perception of perspective being sup- 
posed to depend upon it. To artizans and mechanics in 
general, it must be a matter of importance to have a correct 
idea of size. Those in whom the faculty is weak, will con- 
stantly require to have recourse to compasses and other 
measuring instruments, for the purpose of adjusting the 
respective dimensions of what they are engaged upon. 

25. WEIGHT. 

What is the peculiar function of this organ ? 

The organ of Weight, which adjoins, and lies to the out- 
side of Size, is supposed to give the idea of the ponderosity 
of bodies, and, in general, of mechanical force and resist- 
ance. It is probably to this organ that the nerves of 
mechanical resistance convey the idea of the state of the 
muscles. If it is largely developed, that idea, so communi- 
cated, will be proportionally vivid. 

In whom is it said to be large ? 

In those who excel in archery, skating, quoits, and all 
who have great facility in judging of momentum and resist- 
ance in mechanics. It is probably large in the heads of 
skilful pugilists, such as Randal, Ward, and Belcher; also 
in those who excel in fencing, such as Roland and Foucart, 
and in good equestrians and rope-dancers, as, for instance, 



128 COLOURING. 

Ducrow, in whom it is amply developed. Children who 
walk early are supposed to have it large. It is well marked 
in the heads of eminent engineers, and all who have a 
talent for the investigation of mechanical forces. Sir Isaac 
Newton, Sir David Brewster, Sir John Leslie, and Mr. 
Jardine of Edinburgh, the eminent engineer, afford instances 
in which it is strikingly developed. It is supposed by some, 
to give the idea of the perpendicularity of bodies; at least, 
several builders who possess this power in great perfection, 
are observed to have it large. This and the preceding 
organ are not so well established 82 as some others, and 
farther observations are still wanting to place them beyond 
the pale of probability. The existence of the faculties, 
however, seems unquestionable. 

26. COLOURING. 

What is the nature of this faculty ? 

To communicate the perception of colours. When the 
organ is large, this perception is extremely vivid. There is 
a love of colours for their own sake, and a remarkable 
power of minutely discriminating their nicest shades. Com- 
bined with Ideality, it gives a just and delicate perception 
of colours. When the organ is small, a difficulty is experi- 
enced in perceiving and distinguishing colours, and in 
appreciating their harmony. Such cases are often met 
with, and arise from a defective size of this part of the 
brain. Many people cannot distinguish brown from olive, 



82 When we say that an organ is not well established, it is not to be 
understood that we infer there is any faculty without a corresponding- 
organ, but simply, that phrenologists are yet undecided, whether the cere- 
bral part they have been led to regard as the organ, is the just one. If 
there be a faculty of Weight, there must be an organ : whether the organ 
which has been assigned as the seat of this faculty be the real one, future 
observations must determine. 



COLOURING. 



129 



green from blue, or yellow from orange; while others, 
though not so defective as this, are unable to perceive 
harmony or discord in the arrangement or combination of 
colours. 83 

May not this depend upon indifferent sight f 

It has nothing to do with this, because the persons so 
circumstanced have, as respects every thing else, as good 
eyes as their neighbours. Many people hear perfectly well, 
and yet cannot distinguish one tune from another : it is the 
same with the eyes, as regards colours. 

Where is the organ situated f 

At the middle of the eyebrows, between the organs of 
Weight and Order. Its position may be seen in the annexed 
likeness of Rubens, in whose head it was very large. 




83 " Dr. Nicol has recorded a case, where a naval officer purchased a blue 

uuiform coat and waistcoat, with red breeches to match the blue, and Mr. 

Harvey describes the case of a tailor at Plymouth, who, on one occasion, 

F 2 



130 LOCALITY. 

In ichat class of persons is this organ large ? 

In artists distinguished for colouring, as Rubens, Titian, 
Claude Lorraine, and Salvator Rosa, and in individuals who 
have a passion for brilliant and gaudy dresses. Those who 
are particularly fond of flowers and of birds with beautiful 
plumage, have probably the organ large : it is very ample 
in Montreuil, author of the " French Florist" Poets who 
are fond of describing the infinite hues presented by nature, 
are well endowed with it. 

In which sex is it generally larger ? 

In the female. Women, as colourists, have rivalled men, 
while for design and the higher walks of painting, they are 
greatly inferior. The passion for gaudy ornaments is, be- 
sides, stronger in them than in the other sex. 84 



SPECIES II— INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES WHICH TAKE COG- 
NIZANCE OF THE RELATIONS OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 

27. LOCALITY. 

May not a large frontal sinus be mistaken for this organ ? 

repaired an article of dress with crimson instead of black silk, and on an- 
other, patched the elbow of a blue coat with a piece of crimson cloth. It 
deserves to be remarked, that our celebrated countryman, the late Mr. 
Dugald Stewart, had a similar difficulty in distinguishing- colours, and the 
same remark applies to Messrs. Dalton and Troughton. Mr. Stewart dis- 
covered this defect, when one of his family was admiring the beauty of the 
Siberian crab-apple, which he could not discover from the leaves, but by its 
form and size. Mr. Dalton cannot distinguish blue from pink. Mr. Trough- 
ton regards red, ruddy pinks, and brilliant oranges as yellows, and greens 
as blues, so that he is capable only of appreciating blue and yellow colours." 
— Sir David Brewster's Letters on Natural Magic, p. 31. 

84 The organ of Colouring in persons born blind, or who have lost their 
sight in infancy, is always deficient. This was first observed by Dr. Spurz- 
heim, and I had an opportunity of verifying the fact during a visit, which 
I.made along with Mr. Combe, to the Glasgow Blind Asylum. The organ 
never having been exercised, ceases to grow. It is perfectly reasonable to 
infer, that the same law prevails with respect to other organs. 



LOCALITY. 131 

It may; and cases, doubtless, have occurred, where such 
a circumstance has led to mistakes : but, generally speaking, 
the sinus does not ascend higher than the inferior portion of 
Locality; and in children, at any rate, a mistake of this kind 
cannot well occur, as the sinus, at that age, is scarcely ever 
formed. In the case of adults, no prudent phrenologist 
gives an unqualified opinion as to the size of this organ, except 
where the flatness or depression of the surface unequivocally 
proclaims it to be small. 

How may a large sinus be generally discriminated from 
the organ? 

The prominences formed by the sinus are irregular in 
form, and lie for the most part horizontally; the elevations 
occasioned by large Locality are uniform in shape, and 
extend obliquely upwards, towards the middle of the forehead. 

What is the nature of the faculty connected with this 
organ? 

Locality takes cognizance of the relative positions of 
objects; 85 it bestows a great aptitude for remembering places 



85 " An individual well known in London by the name of ' Memory- 
Corner Thomson,' is remarkable for an astonishing local memory. In the 
space of twenty-four hours, and at two sittings, he drew a correct plan of 
the whole parish of St. James, with several streets" belonging to the parishes 
of Marylebone, St. Ann, and St. Martin. This plan contained all the 
squares, streets, lanes, courts, passages, markets, churches, chapels, public 
buildings, houses, stables, angles of houses, and a great number of other 
objects, as wells, parapets, stones, trees, &c, and an exact plan of Carlton 
House and St. James' Palace. He executed all this without the aid of any 
plan, without compasses, without books, or any other data. He made out 
also, from memory, an exact plan of the parish of St. Andrew, and he 
offered to do the same with that of St. Giles in the fields, St. Paul, Covent 
Garden, St. Clement, and Newchurch. If a particular house in any given 
street was mentioned, he would at once tell what trade was carried on in it, 
the position and appearance of the shop, and its contents. Ingoing through 
a large hotel, completely furnished, he is able to retain every thing, and 
make an inventory from memory; but a dialogue, on the other hand, that 
he may have heard, even two or three times, will be quite new to him in the 
course of two or three days."— PhrenologicalJournal, vol. iv. p. 356. 



132 LOCALITY. 

where we have once been, and a fondness for travelling, 
Persons who have it large seldom lose their way, and when 
they have once been at a place, can return to'it with peculiar 
facility. 

In what class of persons is the organ large ? 

In distinguished voyagers and travellers, such as Colum- 
bus, Vasco de Gama, Captain Cook, and Mungo Park; and, 
accordingly, in the likenesses of these eminent men, it ap- 
pears amply developed. It is large, also, in great geo- 
graphers and astronomers, such as Malte Brun, Kepler, 
Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Newton. Authors who describe, 
and artists who delineate scenery well, have also a good 
development. It appears large in Julius Caesar, Michael 
Angelo, Tasso, Sir Walter Scott, Professor Wilson, Breugel 
the landscape-painter, and M, Jaubert, Professor of Oriental 
Languages at the Bibliotheque du Roi, whose passion for 
travelling is excessive. In the sketch of Pope Martin, page 
122, the organ is seen to be greatly developed. It is large 
in the American Indians, and other nomadic tribes; and it 
appears highly probable, that the continued exercise to which 
it is subjected in these people, actually increases its size. 

Have the lower animals the faculty f 

Yes. Dogs, by means of Locality, trace their steps 
homewards, even for hundreds of miles. The same faculty 
it is which directs birds in their periodical migrations, and 
the carrier-pigeon in its extensive flights. The way, how- 
ever, in which it acts in the lower animals, is often very 
obscure, and, indeed, perfectly inexplicable. A dog, for 
instance, has been sent many hundred miles by sea, and has 
returned over land to the very spot at which it embarked. 
There have not been awanting instances where the faculty 
has operated on the human subject in a somewhat similar 
way, and without the concurrence of sight. Metcalf, the 
blind traveller, was an instance of the kind. This remark- 



133 



able man, If once in a place, could readily find his way back 

a^iiin : indeed, we every day observe blind men walking 
alone, and in peifeet, safety, through lite most, crowded Streets, 

guided, doubtless, in their gloomy path, by the mysterious 
influence <>!' Locality 5 , 8 * 

What arc (he abuses of Locality? 

An excessive tendency to ramble about, and a total inca- 
pacity for remaining long in one place. This is sometimes 

so Strong, as almost, t.o amount; to a. disease. Such was the 
Case with the Abbe Dabrowki of Prague, in whoso head the 
Organ Of Locality was enormously targe. Dr. Gall met:, one 
day, at Vienna, a woman, in whom the development was so 
gT&ttt as to amount to a deformity. In her, also, the 
pa.sssion lor rambling and visiting foreign countries was 
extreme. 

28f NU mi: r.it. 

Describe the situation and function of this on/an. 

It lies at the external angle of the eye, and when large, 
swells out the frontal bone at that particular spot, and like- 
wise, occasionally, giyefa the outer extremity of the eyebrow 

an overhanging and dropping appearance. The function 

connected with it. is that which <;ives the power of arithme- 
tical calculation. Great differences exist among individuals 

86 " U is common, 1 ' says Ml. John Alston, in his Keport of the Blind 

Asylum at Glasgow, "for adults who reside In distant parts of the 'city to 

eome to their employment without a guidOt In farther proof of their eapiU 
bility of walkin:; without an assistant, a youn^' hoy of fourteen years ol 
Bge, WhOSfl parents resided six miles from (iluagow, was in Ihe habit ol 
Halting them. He was accustomed to leave the establishment without an 
attendant, traverse the w hole length of the city, finding his way through the 

caifon, Bridgeton, along Rutherglen bridge, through that town and to his 

father's house. This he did with as much correctness as if he had heen in 
full possession of vision." 1 jun farther informed by the teacher of the 
asylum, himself an intelligent blind man, that ; one of the inmates actually 
walked, without, a guide, as far as his native place Nlrafhaveu, a. distance 
from (ilaseovv ol seventeen miles. 



134 



NUMBER. 



as respects the strength of this faculty. Some men can solve, 
with little effort, the most difficult questions in arithmetic: 
others can hardly manage the simplest, let them labour as 
they please. 

Mention a few individuals remarkable for a large deve- 
lopment of the organ. 

Zerah Colburn, the American calculating boy, George 
Bidder, and Jedediah Buxton — all of them distinguished for 
their extraordinary arithmetical talents, are instances in 
point. The same remark applies to Playfair, Leslie, Inigo 
Jones, Wren, Hutton, Euler, and Kepler: and these distin- 
guished men were all remarkable for the extent to which 
they possessed the computative faculty. The annexed 
likeness of Jedediah Buxton represents the appearance often 
presented by a large development of the organ. 87 




87 Some calculating- boys lose their arithmetical talent when they grow 
up. Such was the case with a relative of my own, who at the age of seven 
possessed great natural capabilities in this way, but in four or five years he 



NUMBER. 135 

Is this organ larger in some nations than in others ? 

It is. In the Negro and Esquimaux head the organ is 
small, and these people are generally very deficient in 
arithmetical talent. Humboldt mentions, that the Chaymas, 
a South American tribe, have great difficulty in comprehend- 
ing any thing which belongs to numercial relation. He 
says, that he never saw a man among them who might not 
be made to say that he was eighteen or sixty years of age; 
and he adds, that the corner of the eye is sensibly raised up 
towards the temple. Wafer observed the same remarkable 
want of calculating power among the Indians at the Isthmus 
of Darien. 

May this faculty coexist vigorously with a weak general 
intellect f 

This may undoubtedly happen. The best arithmetician 
I ever knew was a man of a very feeble understanding; and 
even idiots are sometimes excellent computists. Knowing 
this fact, it is very wrong to accuse people of being dull or 
stupid, merely because it so happens that they are incapable 
of learning arithmetic. Some men of distinguished talent 
cannot even master the multiplication-table; and one of the 
first phrenologists and philosophical writers of the present 
day is so deficient in the computative faculty as to be unable 
to add up his own cash-book. In Dr. Gall, likewise, this 
talent was exceedingly feeble. Fossati observes, that he 
never saw him master a process in simple multiplication or 
division that was at all complicated. 



lost them, and is now a very indifferent calculator. Zerah Colbnrn, too, ig 
an instance of the same kind. " Previous to the wonderful manifestations 
of arithmetical power exhibited by young Colburn, he had been afflicted with 
chorea, and was at the time very nervous, and sometimes evidently suffered 
pain when called on to exhibit his powers ; and when he recovered his 
healthhelost hi3 extraordinary calculating- powers. "—Practical Phrenology, 
by Silas Jones, Boston, 1836 — I have little doubt that Colburn 's organ of 
Number was overworked, and thus rendered apathetic. 



136 



Will a large organ of Number make a person a good 
mathematician® 

No : other faculties are necessary, although Number is a 
very useful one. It was thought, that some calculating 
boys, from the force of their arithmetical powers, would have 
excelled in mathematics, but the result did not correspond 
with the anticipation. As mathematics treat of configura- 
tion and space or dimension, as well as of number, the 
organs of Form and Size are indispensable to eminence in 
that department. 

Is this faculty possessed by animals? 

The point has never been correctly ascertained. Some 
philosophers imagine that the magpie possesses the power 
of computation to a certain extent. Le Roy, for instance, 
supposes, that the creature counts three, while Dupont de 
Nemours extends its talents, in this respect, as far as nine. 
Such assertions, however, must be based on little better than 
conjecture. 88 

29. ORDER. 

Where is this organ situated? 

It lies between Colouring and Number, and is marked 20 
in the bust. 

What is its function? 

To bestow a love of order and arrangement. When the 
organ is very large, there is a punctilious nicety about the 
manner in which things are placed, and the order in which 
they are done. The person is annoyed by confusion, and 
apt to be dainty and finical. He is an ardent admirer of 
the well known maxims, " Say every thing in its proper way; 

88 It is said that a dog- must have this faculty, because it discovers if one 
of its young has been removed; but this, as Spurzheim remarks, it may per- 
ceive from the want of the individual so carried away, without counting the 
number of the whole. 



EVENTUALITY. 137 

pat every thing in its proper place; and do every thing in its 
proper time." His minute love of arrangement is not less 
annoying to those in whom the faculty is feeble, than their 
want of systematic regularity is to him. When the faculty 
is weak the reverse is the case, and there is a marked 
indifference to order and arrangement. Confusion and 
want of neatness give no annoyance : the person is apt to be 
careless in his dress, disorderly in his household, and, unless 
his Conscientiousness be strong, unpunctual to appointments. 

To what class of persons is a large organ of Order espe- 
cially useful? 

To the mistress of a family, and particularly to domestic 
servants : it is essential to keepers of museums, to gardeners, 
and all who have the charge of establishments of any kind. 

Is the organ large in authors distinguished for the pre- 
cision and order of their writings f 

Not necessarily: its powers seem to be confined to phy- 
sical arrangement. Causality and Comparison are the 
chief systematizers. Such authors as Linnaeus and Cuvier, 
were indebted to these organs, and not to the one under 
review, for their great power of classification. 

30. EVENTUALITY. 

Describe the position and function of this organ. 

It lies in the centre of the forehead, above Individuality; 
and gives the power of recollecting events and phenomena. 
Books that abound in incident, such as Don Quixote, 
Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, and Roderick Random, 
are characterised by marked Eventuality; and persons who 
have the faculty strong, will remember vividly the occur- 
rences related in such works. These persons are considered 
clever, in the common meaning of the term : they pick up a 
knowledge of events readily, although it may so happen that 



13S EVENTUALITY. 

they are perfectly unable to reason thereupon, or turn it to 
any proper use. 

Does Eventuality assist in acquiring a language ? 

No; but it will enable us to recollect any particular events 
recorded in that language. The power of acquiring lan- 
guages depends on a special organ. 

What does inquisiiiveness depend upon ? 

Upon Eventuality and Individuality in excess, generally 
combined w r ith Wonder. If Secretiveness is conjoined, 
the inquisitive tendency will be still greater. 

Will a person with large Eventuality y be necessarily 
inquisitive ? 

Not in the common acceptation of the term, which is 
usually employed to designate a species of impertinence. 
If his reflecting powers be deficient, he w r ill be apt to show 
a meddling, inquisitive turn about paltry matters; if strong, 
he will despise this, and direct the faculty to the acquisition 
of really useful knowledge. Still, it is the same power at 
work, only in the one case employed about trifles, in the 
other on matters of importance. 

From what does gossip arise ? 

From large Eventuality and Language, with small Secre- 
tiveness. The person has a great craving to know every 
thing which is going on, and an equally great craving to 
divulge it: he is constantly talking of the affairs of his 
neighbours. Gossips have almost always small brains, and 
are destitute of a liberal education. A large-brained and 
well educated person, despises the paltry habit of retailing 
all the chit-chat which he hears, and is not likely to become 
addicted to this vice. Self-Esteem is often strongly manifested 
by gossips, who are generally envious, jealous creatures. 

Illustrate by some examples the difference between Indivi- 
duality and Eventuality. 

Individuality concerns itself with what exists, Eventuality 



TIME. 139 

with what happens, Substantive nouns express the objects 
of the former, active verbs those of the latter. When I say 
that Lord John Russel is a little man, that the Duke of 
Wellington has a Roman nose, or that camels have 
humps upon their backs, it is Individuality which suggests 
these remarks : when, however, I observe that after being 
challenged by Sir Robert Peel, Mr. O'Connell contrived to 
get himself arrested, and then made a vow in heaven never 
to fight duels; that the Houses of Parliament were burned 
in consequence of overheating the flues; or that Earl 
Spenser rears the fattest cattle in England, then the obser- 
vations are suggested by Eventuality. We may in another 
manner exhibit the operation of the two faculties. If I 
see a sportsman standing in a field with his gun levelled, 
an object is presented to my Individuality. If he draws the 
trigger, discharges the gun, and kills a bird, these are all 
occurrences or events in the process of active operation, 
and are recognised by Eventuality. 

3L TIME. 

Where is the organ of Time situated f 

In the middle region of the forehead, on each side of 
Eventuality. It is not considered to be fully established, 
but the existence of the faculty is sufficiently manifest. 

What talent depends upon the organ ? 

The perception of duration, or time. It enables those who 
are well endowed with it, to keep time in dancing and in 
music, lo judge accurately of the intervals which elapse 
between given periods, and to conjecture the hour of the day 
with comparative precision, without consulting the clock : it 
is essential to good versification. People differ in all these 
particulars, and the differences depend on the degree in which 
they are gifted with this organ. 



140 



TUNE. 



Mention some other ways in which Time may manifest itself. 

In the accuracy with which a regiment of soldiers fires at 
the word of command; or goes through the manual and 
platoon exercise, by observing the movements of the fugle- 
man. In those who keep bad time in performing such exer- 
cises the faculty is feeble. It is also feeble in those who 
acquire with difficulty the art of dancing, and the same remark 
applies to bad timists in music. 

32. TUNE. 

Where does this organ lie ? 

In the lateral portion of the forehead, outside of Time, 
and immediately above Order and Number. The position 




of the organ is shown in the annexed portrait of Handel, 
in whose head it was greatly developed. 



TUNE. 141 

What function is connected with it? 

The feeling for music, and, when accompanied with Time, 
Imitation, &c, the talent for playing on instruments, or singing 
with skill and success. It is large in all who have a decided 
musical genius, such as Gliick, Weber, Rossini, Malibran, 
Catalani, and Pasta. 89 

Is it confined to the human species? 

No : birds have the organ and its accompanying faculty. 
It is distinctly marked in the nightingale, the thrush, the 
linnet, and other singing birds. It is larger in the head of 
the male singing bird than in the female, which accounts 
for the superior power of song possessed by the former. In 
birds which do not sing, it is not similarly developed. If we 
compare the head of the hawk, the crow, or the eagle, with 
those of the tribe of songsters, the difference will at once 
appear obvious in the region of Tune. 

May not the inability of certain birds to sing, depend upon 
the unsuitable organization of the throat? 

This objection has no force; because whenever nature has 
bestowed the talent for any thing, she has, at the same time, 
endowed the animal with the apparatus for exercising that 
talent. If the raven had the cerebral organization of 
the nightingale, nature, which does nothing in vain, would 
have given it the vocal apparatus for song. 90 The hawk is 

89 "The faculty gives the perception of melody; but this is only one 
ingredient in a genius for music. Time is requisite to give a just perception 
of intervals, Ideality to communicate elevation and refinement, and Secre- 
tiveness and Imitation to produce expression; while Constructiveness, 
Form, Weight, and Individuality, are necessary to supply mechanical expert- 
ness:— qualities all indispensable to a successful performer. Even the 
largest organ of Tune will not enable its possessor to play successfully on 
the harp, if Weight be deficient; the capacity of communicating to the 
string the precise vibratory impulse requisite to produce each particular note 
will then be wanting."— Combe's System, 4th edition, vol. ii. p. 533. 

90 An ingenious friend has stated in objection to this, that some men 
have great musical talent, and yet cannot sing well, for want of good voice. 



142 TUN'E. 

a ferocious, sanguinary animal, and it is armed accordingly 
with formidable claws, and a powerful beak, wherewith to 
exercise its particular instincts. Of what use would such 
armoury be to a timid creature like the dove? or what would 
the hawk be, were it weaponless like the dove? In such a 
case, the lust for blood and thirst for destroying, which have 
been bestowed for the purpose of gratification, would be 
unaccompanied with any means of carrying these intentions 
of nature into effect. 

Is there any reason to suppose* that the British will ever 
equal the Germans and Italians in music? 

None. The organ in the British head is decidedly smaller, 
so that, although an individual may now and then arise, 
capable of contesting the palm with the Haydns, the Ros- 
sinis, and the Handels, still, as a people, they can never 
compete with these nations in musical talent. It is a common 
remark that their deficiency of talent for music, is owing to 
the taste for this accomplishment never having been suffi- 
ciently cultivated in Great Britain : but why has it not been 
so cultivated? Simply because the British are not emi- 



Such an objection, however, is more specious than solid. The chief purpose 
of voice is speech, and man is not, like the nightingale, merely a singing 
animal, or, like the hawk, merely an animal formed for destructive pur- 
poses. Supposing a man to have a good development of Tune, together 
with an indifferent voice, it cannot be said that his musical talent is thrown 
away upon him, and that, because he cannot sing, he cannot turn it to good 
purpose. Man has faculties which have enabled him to invent and construct 
instruments,' from which he draws music far surpassing in sublimity and 
beauty, that of his own voice. I am not aware that Weber or Beethoven 
could sing well ; yet what exquisite delight did not these men derive from 
their organ of Tune, and what wonderful works did it not stimulate them 
to produce ? Another consideration is, that while birds, by living in accord- 
ance with the laws of nature, have their functions, and among others the 
voice, in a comparatively perfect condition, man, whose unnatural mode of 
life, and disregard of these laws, have tended much to injure his capabilities, 
does not generally enjoy that perfection of the vocal power, which, had he 
acted in accordance with the organic laws, he probably would have possessed. 



TUNE. 143 

nently musical. If the national talent lay decidedly in this 
particular walk, they would naturally cultivate it, and be 
able to cope with the Germans and Italians. 

Would you expect the organ large in every good per- 
former on a musical instrument? 

No. A fair development, aided by an active tempera- 
ment and great perseverance, may make a very good 
performer indeed; but one of the highest order, such as 
Paganini, requires an ample organ of Tune. To eminent 
original composers, as Mozart, Haydn, and Auber, a large 
development is indispensable. 91 

On what do differences of taste in music depend? 

On the state of the other organs. A person whose 
Veneration and Tune are both large, will naturally prefer 
sacred music : large Combativeness and Tune will induce a 
preference to martial music, and so on. 

Is the organ of Tune fully established ? 

The facts in support of it are so numerous, that this ap- 
pears to be the case. The discrimination of the size of the 
organ is, however, so difficult, that, except in cases of 
extreme development or deficiency, mistakes are frequently 
committed in estimating it. This is particularly the case 
with sciolists in Phrenology, who are disposed to make a 
display of their skill more frequently with regard to this 



91 A lady incidentally, and without any reference to Phrenology, in- 
formed me, that her female servant could not distinguish one tune from 
another, although her hearing was perfect. She farther mentioned, as a 
curious circumstance, that the woman was constantly committing mistakes 
when the bells rung, as she was unable to distinguish the door bell from the 
dining-room one, although every other person in the family could do so 
with ease, so very different were the tones of the two bells. On examining 
the woman's head, I found the organ of Tune remarkably deficient, there 
being a flatness, or rather a depression in the site of the organ. I took a 
cast of her forehead, a copy of which is in the museum of the Edinburgh 
Phrenological Society. 



144 



LANGUAGE. 



organ, than in relation to any other. In judging of musical 
talent, unless great attention is paid to the training which 
the organ has received, error is very apt to be committed. 
Temperament, also, has a most important effect; and it 
ought not to be forgotten, that many persons sing and per- 
form respectably, from little else than Imitation and practice. 



33. LANGUAGE. 

What external sign indicates a good endowment of Lan- 
guage ? 

Prominence of the eyes, or their depression vertically. 
This arises from the position of the organ on the posterior 
and transverse part of the upper orbitary plate, 92 immedi- 
ately over the eye. When the organ is large, this plate is 
necessarily lower than in other cases, and the eyes are thus 
pushed forward and downward. In the sketch here given 
of Van Swieten's head, we have a good idea of a large 
development of Language. 




92 The orbitary plates are portions of the frontal bone, from which they 
go off backwards at right angles, forming a roof to the eye, and supporting 
the anterior lobes of the brain. 



LANGUAGE. 145 

What talent depends on this organ? 
That of verbal memory. The person has a great knack 
at recollecting words : he acquires languages with facility, 
learns readily by heart, and is generally a great talker. 
When Imitation is large, the power of pronouncing a 
foreign tongue after the manner of the natives is greatly 
increased. When small, the individual may easily acquire 
the language, and speak it with grammatical accuracy, but 
his pronunciation will be defective. Some people who 
have an admirable talent for acquiring languages, can never 
pronounce them well, owing to feebleness in the imitative 
faculty. 

May a person be eminent as a linguist, and yet not re- 
markable for the prominency of his eyes f 

He may; and hence mistakes are now and then committed 
by the inexperienced. If the organs of Locality, Weight, 
Size, Colouring, and Order, be very large, and the eye- 
brows full and overhanging, the eyes will appear much less 
prominent than in other circumstances. 

Do prominent eyes always indicate talkativeness or verbal 
memory ? 

Always, except when the prominency is occasioned by 
fat, as is sometimes the case with corpulent people, especially 
if they be of dissipated habits. These, however, are merely 
exceptions to a well established general rule. 

Why do very ordinary men often surpass at school, those 
who prove much their superiors in after life f 

This generally arises from their possessing a good de- 
velopment of Language, Individuality, and Eventuality, 
especially the first. Men of great talent are often only 
moderately endowed with Language, while people, other- 
wise common-place, have frequently the faculty in great 
perfection. ** When the doctrines of Phrenology come to 
be generally understood, the admiration excited by the 



146 LANGUAGE. 

possession of a great number of dead and foreign languages 
will be much diminished. It will then be considered merely 
as evidence of a large organ of Language, and as no evi- 
dence of superior general talents." 94 

What happens when the organ is large ? 

The person is a formidable linguist, or most insufferable 
talker, perhaps both. People of this sort have an absolute 
pleasure in hearing themselves speak. They are, literally, 
talking-machines, and are rendered uncomfortable if not 
allowed to indulge in their favourite occupation. Their 
style of writing and speaking is apt to be diffuse, and 
destitute of condensation : they can scribble whole pages, and 
talk by the hour, about absolutely nothing. 

What results from a small development? 

Difficulty in acquiring languages; hence indifferent scholar- 
ship; a want of facility in expression, and a disposition to 
be taciturn. The writings of such persons contain hardly a 
useless word, so that they are often more valuable and 
interesting than the works of the other class. 

Mention a few eminent persons in whom the organ was 
large? 

Swift, Haller, Leibnitz, Cobbett, and Edmund Burke. 
It appears large in the likenesses of Milton, who was a distin- 
guished scholar, and a great master in his native language 
— witness "Paradise Lost," which, as a piece of mere verbal 
composition, and without reference to the sublimity of its 
ideas, is, perhaps, the most perfect work of modern times. 

Is the organ of Language ever unnaturally excited f 
In fever, mania, and drunkenness, this sometimes 
happens; the consequence of which is an inordinate propen- 
sity to talk, although the person may be, at other times, very 
taciturn. There have been instances, where, from the ex- 

94 Silas Jones' Phrenology. 



COMPARISON. 147 

citement of the organ during the delirium of fever, a language 
learned in early life, but afterwards forgotten, has been 
recalled, so that the person could speak it fluently, only, 
however, to be forgotten so soon as the excitement by which 
it had been resuscitated wore away. Cases where the 
memory of Languages is lost, from disease of this organ, are 
numerous. 95 

GENUS III.— REFLECTIVE FACULTIES. 

What is the nature of the Reflective faculties ? 

To produce the quality of reasoning or reflection. They 
compare one thing with another, and trace the relation 
subsisting between effects and their causes. 

34. COMPARISON. 

Where is this organ situated? 

In the centre of the upper region of the forehead, imme-> 
diately above Eventuality. 

What is the nature of its faculty? 

It enables us to trace resemblances and perceive analogies, 
• Homer compares the eloquence of Ulysses to the soft falling 
of the snow, flakes, and naturalists speak of the analogy 



95 I know, a case of this kind. A literary gentlemen was actively 
employed for some months in the compilation of a French and English 
dictionary. He performed his laborious task, but, at the end of it, so com- 
pletely had his organ of Language been overworked by its long continued 
exertions, that he actually lost the memory of words. His knowledge of 
Greek, Latin, and French, which was very extensive, vanished from his 
mind, nor did he recover it till the energy of the exhausted organ was 
restored to its wonted power, by being allowed to rest. Some years ago, 
when labouring under a fever, accompanied with violent cerebral action, I 
lost, for some days, to a considerable extent, the memory of words, although 
in all other respects, the mind was perfectly sound. If I wished a draught 
of water, I knew the thing wanted, but could not name it. 



148 COMPARISON. 

subsisting between the animal and vegetable kingdoms. 
It is the organ in question which associates these objects or 
qualities together, and traces similitude between them. 
Persons in whom it is large will trace a resemblance or 
affinity between objects or events which would entirely elude 
the observation of others with a smaller endowment. It is 
the well from which gushes forth figurative language; the 
grand fountain of similes, metaphors, and analogies. John 
Bunyan likens the christian's progress to that of a traveller 
in a dangerous country; death he represents as like the 
passage over a river from one country to another. In the 
scriptures, Christ is compared to the brazen serpent which 
Moses lifted up, and which was a remedy to the Israelites 
for the wounds inflicted by serpents. The universities have 
been compared to beacons moored in the stream of time, 
which serve only to mark the rapidity with which the tide of 
improvement flows past them. An author who arrives at 
the end of a dry dissertation, of which he is heartily tired, 
and is about to commence the discussion of an agreeable 
subject, likens himself to a traveller who has long toiled 
through a barren and disgusting track, and at length, after 
much labour, has reached the summit of an eminence from 
which he looks back on the country where his toils were* 
endured, and sees before him with gladness the inviting 
territory now to be traversed. The life of a wicked man 
flows like a polluted stream. A beautiful woman without 
virtue is like a painted sepulchre. As iron sharpeneth iron, 
so is the face of a man to his friend. The people which sat 
in darkness saw a great light. Frail man ! his days are like 
the grass. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. 
All the foregoing similitudes and analogies are the result of 
Comparison. 

Does this faculty take cognizance of all kinds of com- 
parisons ? 



COMPARISON. 149 

No. Each intellectual faculty compares in matters strictly 
relating to itself. Thus, Form compares forms, Colour- 
ing colours, Size magnitudes, Tune the modulations of 
sound, &c. When Milton speaks of Satan standing " like Tene- 
riffe or Atlas unremoved," or likens his shield to the full 
moon, it is Form that suggests the resemblance, and not Com- 
parison. The province of the latter is to perceive analogies 
between objects falling under the cognizance of two different 
faculties, between ideas in themselves essentially different. 
When Coleridge, for instance, addresses Mont Blanc as a 
kingly spirit throned among the hills, he does so under the 
influence of the present faculty. If we hear music, it is 
Tune which compares the different notes and judges of their 
harmony or discord; but if we contrast together tunes and 
colours, if we say that the sober livery of Autumn is like a 
strain of plaintive music, it is then the faculty of Comparison 
which is brought into play. 

Does the organ determine the nature of the similes which 
we employ? 

No. This depends upon our other faculties. Thus, a 
person whose Tune is very powerful will draw similitudes 
from music; another, with ample Colouring, will deduce them 
from the hues of nature, &c; a third, with Constructiveness 
well developed, may have recourse to comparisons from 
the steam engine. The present organ, therefore, although 
it gives the talent and the aptitude for indulging in similes, 
metaphors, and analogies, gives no farther. The character of 
these is determined by other powers. 

In what class of people may we expect to find the organ 
large ? 

In popular poets, orators, preachers, and philosophical 
writers. 'In them the faculty is highly useful, from the 
abundant supply of imagery, and the wide and varied range of 
illustration which it affords. It appears large in Kant, Pitt, and 



150 



COMPARISON. 



Dr. Chalmers, and remarkably in Mr. Thomas Moore, v:hose 
prolific power of comparison, as displayed in " Lalla Rookh," 
" The Loves of the Angels," and other poems, is unsurpassed, 
or rather unequalled. Roscoe, Henry IV. Goethe, Burke, 
and Curran, show a large development. The same remark 
applies to La Fontaine, the celebrated fabulist; and, accord- 
ing to Dr. Gall, children in whom the comparative faculty is 
strong, prefer fables to every other kind of instruction. The 
organ is better developed in some nations than in others. 
It is generally large in the Hindoo head, and the figurative 
character of the language of that people has long been 
proverbial. 96 




Kant. 



9G In a gentleman whose case is related in the 36th number of the Phreno- 
logical Journal, the activity of Comparison is so strong, that it prompts him 



151 



35. CAUSALITY. 

Describe the position and function of this organ f 

It lies in the forehead, on each side of Comparison, and 
the purpose served by it is to give the idea of connexion 
between cause and effect. He who is well endowed with it 
and Comparison, possesses a severe and logical intellect : 
he traces results from their origin, and is a sound reasoner. 
Men of this stamp are never shallow; they constitute the 
profound thinkers so rarely to be met with in society. 

Is this a valuable faculty? 

With the exception of Conscientiousness* it is, perhaps, 
the most valuable of the whole series. It is the faculty on 
which mainly depends the intellectual greatness of Locke, 
Bacon, Gall, and other illustrious names. The organ was 



to compare names with physical objects :— Thus, the words Combe, Cox, 
and Simpson, resemble the following figures : — 



IX 



rywi 

Combe. Cox. Simpson. 

He has also an irresistible tendency to compare sounds with colour. 
When a musical instrument is played, one tone seems to him to resemble 
blue, another green, another purple, and so on. When this individual was 
attending Dr. Gall'3 lectures in Paris, some years ago, the Doctor was so 
struck with the appearance of the organ of Comparison in his forehead, 
that he pointed it out to his class, as an instance of great development, 
having, at the moment, no knowledge whatever of the person, or the degree 
in which he was endowed with the comparative faculty. I know a gentle, 
man who has the same tendency to compare sounds and colours, and these 
are the only two I have ever met with. A case is related of a blind boy, 
who, on being asked what like the colour of scarlet was, replied, that it 
resembled the sound of a trumpet. In this instance, it is possible that the 
association of ideas may have arisen from the boy being informed that 
soldiers wore scarlet coats, and that the trumpet was employed to call them 
together. 



15*2 CAUSALITY. 

very large in the heads of these great men. Kant, Dr. 
Thomas Brown, Fichte, Mendelsohn, and indeed, all men of 
eminently philosophical minds, exhibit an ample development 
of it. The frontispiece is an accurate likeness of the great 
founder of the phrenological system, in whose mind the 
faculty under consideration was a predominating feature. 
The forehead is finely developed, Language, Imitation, 
Causality,Comparison, and Benevolence are very conspicuous. 
It is the head of a man of high intellect, much decision of 
purpose, and great nobleness of disposition. 

To what pursuits does the organ in question lead? 

To abstract philosophical studies in general. A strong 
love of logic and metaphysics is one of its tendencies; indeed, 
no person can be great as a reasoner without it. 

Is it necessary in the physical sciences f 

As necessary there as in the moral. Individuality gives 
us cognizance of existences, and Eventuality of occurrences, 
but it is Causality, joined with Comparison, w T hich enables 
us to reason upon them, and turn them to proper use. The 
organ is large in the heads of Playfair, Cuvier, Guy Lussac, 
and other eminent natural philosophers. Great reflecting 
intellect, however, does not seem to be necessary for mathe- 
matical excellence. 97 

Is Causality necessary for historical writing? 

Eminently so. Without this faculty, history would be a 
mere series of details, without dependence or connexion. 
The springs which moved the different personages, and 
promoted the different events, would never be investigated, 
and the whole work would present a series of effects without 



97 It is a common notion that mathematics strengthens the reasoning 
powers. The erroneousness of this opinion is very successfully charac- 
terized by Mr. Combe. See the fourth edition of his System of Phrenology, 
vol. ii. p. 503. The reflecting* intellect of some distinguished mathema- 
ticians has been by no means remarkable. Ex. Gr. Sir John Leslie. 



CAUSALITY. 153 

any suitable causes. The works of all great historians, such 
as Gibbon, Hume, Robertson, display a rich vein of Causality; 
nor can it be doubted, that in the heads of these eminent 
men the organ was amply developed. 

Is it necessary for poetry? 

No; but poetry is vastly improved by the interfusion of a 
philosophic spirit derived from Causality. The faculty 
reigned in the sublime intellects of Milton and Shakspeare, 
and prevails every where through their mighty works. There 
is a great deal of Causality in the writings of Pope, Dryden, 
and Wordsworth : it gives a philosophic hue to poetry, with- 
out impairing its imaginative character. 

Does a person with distinguished reasoning powers always 
appear great in general society? 

No. Men with good perceptive, or knowing organs, often 
appear to much greater advantage than those with the higher 
powers of mind conferred by eminent reflective faculties. 
A shallow, smart person, would be thought far more highly 
of by the bulk of mankind, than a Kant, a Bacon, or a 
Spurzheim. Brilliant men are not often profound : the cir- 
cumstance, indeed, of a person appearing very great in a 
miscellaneous company, may generally be taken as an evi- 
dence that his reflective faculties are not of a very high order. 

What is the cause of this ? 

The reflective faculties of men, in general, are not strong, 
and they can neither appreciate nor comprehend profound 
reasoning. Good perceptive organs being more common, 
their manifestations are easily understood, and better relished; 
whence quick, but shallow men, strike the common mind 
more forcibly than deep thinkers, and are more likely to 
succeed in the common affairs of life. 98 



98 Great intellects require great occasions to appear advantageously. A 
smart, superficial, talkative, polite man, with a fund of anecdote, much 
plausibility, and of a money-making turn, may prove more successful as a 

G 2 



154 CAUSALITY. 

What happens when Causality is small ? 

In this case the arguments of such persons are illogical 
and inconsecutive. They experience great difficulty in 
tracing effects from their causes, and are incapable of any 
thing like deep and connected reasoning. From their feeble 
appreciation of the force of evidence, it is extremely difficult 
to convince such persons of the truth of Phrenology. 

What are the abuses of Causality f 

An excessive tendency to metaphysical speculations, to 
the neglect of the practical pursuits of life. Kant seems 
an instance of the abuse of this faculty. He is very often 
profound, but speculative and abstract, and often unintel- 
ligible. In his head, the reflective organs greatly predomi- 
nate over all others. Causality, however, is far less likely 
to be abused than any other faculty, if we except Benevo- 
lence and Conscientiousness. 

Has Causality any influence on the formation of religious 
belief? 

A very important influence, not inferior, perhaps, to that 

tradesman, than one whose intellectual calibre is of a far higher grade. 
Supposing Shakspeare, Locke, and Newton, to be associated together as 
linen-drapers, it is very evident that the firm would soon become bankrupt. 
Not one half of the faculties of the partners finding occupation in this 
business, they would be irresistibly led to direct them into some channel 
where they would meet with the requisite exercise. Instead of serving 
customers, and keeping a sharp look out upon expenditure and receipts, 
each member of the concern would be occupied in such a manner as to en- 
sure its speedy ruin. We may conceive Shakspeare, while presiding over 
the ledger, taking a flight to the court of Macbeth, or fleeting with Ariel 
or Titania upon the clouds ; Locke, while purchasing goods, sadly perplexed 
with the doctrine of innate ideas j and Newton, in the act of measuring off 
a yard of linen, absorbed in calculating the dimensions of a planet. The 
business, in short, would straightway go to wreck, and the illustrious trio 
of would-be-drapers figuring in the Gazette. The predominating faculties 
always demand gratification, and it is wrong to bring up a man of great 
powers of mind to any pursuit which does not permit of their being safely 
indulged. Many men of superior talent make bad shop-keepers, who would 
have excelled as physicians, barristers, or divines— these professions giving 
ampler scope to the higher faculties of the mind than a mere trade. 



CAUSALITY. 155 

of Veneration and Wonder. Causality, enlightened by 
knowledge, leads mankind to infer a presiding First Cause, 
from the marks of wisdom and design which every where 
present themselves in the material universe. Veneration 
prompts to revere the Being whose existence is thus in- 
ferred: while Wonder is the source of that astonishment 
and admiration with which we contemplate His existence 
and attributes. 



156 



THE TEMPERAMENTS. 

What is meant by the temperaments ? 

The temperaments are certain states of constitution which 
are found to have a great effect on the energy and activity 
of the brain, and system in general. 

How are the temperaments classified? 

The pure temperaments are four in number, the Lym- 
phatic, the Sanguine, the Bilious, and the Nervous, but they 
are often found in combination; thus we have the Sanguine- 
Lymphatic, the Nervous-Bilious, the Bilious-Nervous, the 
Nervous-Sanguine, &e. Sometimes even three tempera- 
ments are united, and then we have the Nervous-Sanguine- 
Bilious, the Nervous-Sanguine-Lymphatic, and so on." 

What are the characteristics of the pure temperaments ? 

In the Lymphatic, the body is full, the flesh soft and 
flabby, the hair and complexion pale, the eyes expression- 
less, the pulse slow, and the person indolent, inanimate, 
loutish, and insipid. In the Sanguine, the hair is red or of 
a light chesnut tinge, the countenance florid, the eyes blue 
and sparkling, the muscles large and tolerably firm, and the 
spirits lively and boisterous. The Bilious is characterized 
by dark hair and coarse skin. The muscles are less than in 
the Sanguine, but harder, and there is little fat. Altogether, 
this temperament possesses much energy, and is the best 
for sustaining the system under great and long protracted 



99 We place the name of the predominating temperament first. For in- 
stance, the Nervous- Bilious implies that the former preponderates, and the 
Bilious- Nervous the reverse. We often say, that a person is 60 Bilious, 
and 40 Nervous, or 80 Sanguine, and 20 Lymphatic, &c, to give some idea 
of the proportions which he possesses of each temperament. 



TEMPERAMENTS. 157 

efforts. 100 The Nervous temperament is distinguished by 
fine silky hair, pale complexion, small muscles, sharp fea- 
tures, and often delicate health. It is the most excitable 
and sensitive of all the temperaments; but its efforts, though 
rapid and vivacious, are soon exhausted. 101 

What is the character of the mixed temperaments ? 

This depends upon that of the pure ones out of which 
they are formed; thus the Nervous-Bilious combines in 



100 This temperament is improperly named. There is no connexion 
whatever between it and an excess of bile, as might be inferred from its 
denomination, and as was ignorantly supposed by the ancients. The term 
Fibrous more distinctly indicates its character, and by this name it ought 
to be known. 

101 " Who," says Cobbett, in the third letter of his « Advice to Young 
Men,* is to tell whether a girl will make an industrious woman? How is 
the purblind lover, especially, to be able to ascertain whether she whose 
smiles, and dimples, and bewitching lips, have half bereft him of his senses ; 
how is he to be able to judge, from any thing that he can see, whether the 
beloved object will be industrious or lazy? Why, it is very difficult." 
" There are, however, certain outward signs, which, if attended to with 
care, will serve as pretty sure guides. And first, if you find the tongue 
lazy, you may be nearly certain the hands and feet are the same. By 
laziness of the tongue, I do not mean silence ; I do not mean an absence of 
talk, for that, in most cases, is very good ; but I mean a slow and soft utter- 
ance ; a sort of sighing out of the words, instead of speaking them ; a sort 
of letting the sounds fall out as if the party were sick at stomach. The 
pronunciation of an industrious person is generally quick and distinct, and 
the voice, if not strong, firm at least. Not masculine; as feminine as 
possible : not a croak nor a bawl, but a quick, distinct, and sound voice." 
" Look a little also at the labours of the teeth, for those correspond with 
the other members of the body, and with the operations of the mind." — 
" Get to see her at work upon a mutton chop, or a bit of bread and cheese, 
and if she deal quickly wath these, you have a pretty good security for that 
activity, that stirring industry, without which a wife is a burden instead 
of a help." ' c Another mark of industry is a quick step, and a somewhat 
heavy tread, showing that the foot comes down with a hearty good will." 
" I do not like, and I never liked, your sauntering, soft-stepping girls, who 
move as if they w r ere perfectly indifferent to the result." 

The above is an excellent illustration of the difference between the Lym- 
phatic and the more active temperaments. It is sketched by the hand of a 
master, and truth has guided every stroke of the pencil. 



158 TEMPERAMENTS. 

itself the qualities of the Nervous and the Bilious, and so 
of the others. 

What temperament is most likely to be found in combi- 
nation with each other ? 

Those which most clearly resemble each other are the 
most likely to be united : hence the Lymphatic and San- 
guine, and the Nervous and Bilious often go together. 
Sometimes, however, we find the most dissimilar in combi- 
nation. 

The state of the brain, then, is influenced by the prevail- 
ing temperament ? 

So much so, that in inferring character, the temperament 
requires always to be taken into consideration. Supposing 
a lymphatic person to possess the same size and shape of 
brain as a bilious one, he will manifest far less energy and 
activity of mind. 

What does this arise from ? 

The brain, in common with the rest of the body, partakes 
of the functional energy or inactivity communicated by the 
temperament. In the Lymphatic, for instance, the blood 
being sent with little energy to the brain, that viscus is 
naturally torpid in its actions. In the Sanguine and the 
Bilious, the reverse is the case : the pulse is stronger and 
quicker, a proof of the greater activity of the circulating 
system; and hence the brain is more vigorously stimulated, 
receiving from this smart passage of the blood through it 
superior activity and power of function. 

Does the torpor of the Lymphatic temperament depend 
solely on inactivity of circulation ? 

It is considered that it may also, in a great measure, arise 
from the blood being of a more watery description than in 
the other varieties. At least, it is well known, that in the 
Lymphatic there is a great predominance of the glandular 
system, and of the aqueous secretions. 



TEMPERAMENTS. 159 

Does quality of brain correspond with the excellence of 
the temperament f 

There is reason to suppose that it does. The texture of 
the cerebral system is conjectured to be very fine in the 
Nervous temperament, and the reverse in the Lymphatic. 102 

Does dissection demonstrate this f 

In all likelihood it would do so, although the subject has 
not yet been sufficiently attended to by anatomists to enable 
us to speak decidedly. This much is certain, that the 
texture of the skull is influenced by the prevailing tempera- 
ment, being fine and compact in the Nervous, coarse and 
open-grained in the Lymphatic. Moreover, the muscles 
are firm in the former, and flabby in the latter. 

Do particular temperaments prevail more in some nations 
than in others f 

Yes. The Lymphatic predominates greatly among the 
Dutch, and to a considerable degree among the Germans. 
The prevailing temperament in France is the Nervous, or, 
perhaps, the Nervous-Bilious. The Sanguine seems to 
prevail among the Swedes and Norwegians, and, combined 
with the Nervous, among the Irish. 

What is the temperament of genius f 

The Nervous and Bilious, or a mixture of them, are in a 

102 " Long. continued observation has led us to consider it as a general 
rule, that one inherent quality characterizes the various organs composing 
an individual human body; in other words, that if the bones be dense and 
firm, and the muscles compact and vivacious, the other organs of the body 
partake of the excellent quality, and the brain, among the rest, is capable 
of vigorous action. When the expression of the countenance is animated 
and refined, an active and vivacious brain is seldom, if ever, wanting." — 
PhrenologicalJournal, vol. viii. p. 595.— (We see the influence of tempera- 
ment on the lower animals. The bones of the racer are much more com- 
pact than those of the draught horse, the muscles are also firmer and 
tougher, and the animal possesses that mingled vivacity and capability for 
continued exertion, which exist in persons well endowed with the Bilious 
and the Nervous temperaments. In sluggish animals, such as the cow, the 
hog, &c, Lymphatic very decidedly predominates.) 



160 TEMPERAMENTS. 

particular manner the temperaments of genius. Great 
genius, however, may accompany the Sanguine tempera- 
ment. Such is the case with Professor Wilson. It is diffi- 
cult to conceive a purely lymphatic person of distinguished 
genius. 

Give illustrations of some of the temperaments. 

The temperament of Pope, Voltaire, Keats, Kirke White, 
and Cowper, was evidently pure Nervous — that of Milton 
probably a mixture of the Nervous and Bilious — that of 
Shakspeare and Raphael, of the Nervous and Sanguine — 
and that of Julius Csesar, Oliver Cromwell, and Wellington, 
of the pure Bilious. Alcibiades and Achilles seem to have 
been illustrations of the pure Sanguine, and Benjamin 
Franklin of the Sanguine-Bilious. The temperament of 
Gall was Bilious-Nervous, that of Spurzheim Nervous-San- 
guine-Lymphatic. These facts we infer from what we 
know of the individuals by their actions and writings, and 
by their portraits, where these exist. 

Have mental exertion and age any modifying influence 
on temperament f 

They have. Great exercise of the brain has a tendency 
to eradicate the Lymphatic to a considerable extent. Such 
was the case with Dr. Spurzheim. By incessant intellectual 
labour he rendered himself much less lymphatic than he 
originally was, and never got very stout, although his natu- 
ral tendency w T as towards embonpoint. His sisters, on the 
other hand, who possessed brains very inferior to his, and 
who never exerted them, became excessively corpulent and 
indolent. In Spurzheim, the great size of brain, combined 
with a considerable portion of the Nervous, and some degree 
of the Sanguine temperament, kept him intellectually very 
active, and contributed to mitigate the lymphatic influence. 
Age, again, has a tendency to induce the latter. People 
who showed little or none of it when young, often exhibit 



TEMPERAMENTS. 161 

it when they get towards middle or advanced life, becoming 
then full-bodied and indolent, and indisposed to either cor- 
poreal or mental exertion. 103 

Does not this doctrine of the temperaments throw great 
obstacles in the way of predicating character? 

It does not ; for a knowledge of quality of brain is as 
much one of the phrenological conditions, as that of quantity. 
A true phrenologist always calculates the effect which tem- 
perament produces, seeing that on this the quality of the 
cerebral texture seems chiefly to depend. In estimating 
the strength of two men, w r e do not judge absolutely by their 
size : the one who is least in dimensions, may yet possess 
the greatest energy in his muscular system. If, however, 
the muscles of the large man are not only bulkier, but of 
equal quality as respects firmness and stamina, he must 
needs be the more athletic of the two. Other things being 
equal, the larger the muscles or brain, the greater will be 
the power possessed by them. A large lymphatic brain 
will display more vigour than a small one, although less 
than that of a brain acted on by more energetic tempera- 
ments, i 



103 " We have heard it remarked by an acute traveller, that the Lym- 
phatic temperament, indicated by coarse fair hair, plump and inexpressive 
countenance, and languid eyes, with the attendant dulness and coarseness of 
mind/greatly predominates among the lower orders in the northern countries 
of Europe j while dark hair and dark eyes, or fine flaxen hair, and clear 
vivacious blue eyes, indicative of the Bilious and Nervous temperaments, 
are much more common among the higher classes in the same regions ; and 
that the proportions of the Bilious and Nervous temperaments to the Lym- 
phatic, increase as the degrees of latitude decrease." — Phrenological J ov/rnal 3 
vol. vii. p. 412. 



162 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

What faculties first display themselves? 

The propensities, with one exception — that of Amative- 
ness, which is the organ that last manifests the faculty- 
belonging to it. 

Do the Perceptive or the Reflective organs act earliest? 

The perceptive: children soon begin to notice objects, but 
a long time elapses before they can reason upon them, or 
trace their relations. 104 

Are the organs generally contiguous whose functions bear 
some resemblance ? 

They are. Thus Causality and Comparison, which have 
a strong analogy in their functions, are contiguous. The 
same is the case with Ideality and Wonder, with Time and 
Tune, with Combativeness and Destructiveness, with Adhe- 
siveness and Philoprogenitiveness, and so on. This curious 



104 " The reflecting faculties, observes Dr. Caldwell, "are never power- 
fully manifested at a very early period of life. The knowing or perceptive 
ones alone are, at times, inordinately vigorous in infancy. Hence, none of 
the precocious geniuses that appear excite astonishment by their reasoning 
powers. They are distinguished in music, numbers, drawing, painting, 
modelling, and language ; but not in any thing that depends on depth of 
reflection j such as general philosophy, political economy, or abstract meta- 
physics. In these latter branches of science precocious geniuses rarely 
attain eminence at any period of their lives. Nature would seem to have so 
exhausted her resources in giving unwarranted luxuriance in them to the 
knowing organs of the brain, as to have but little left to bestow on the 
reflecting ones which come to maturity at a later period. Hence, it has 
passed almost into a proverb that ' early geniuses who are men among boys 
are apt to be afterwards boys among men.' Infant Rosciuses are mere 
mimics and verbalists, their organs of Imitativeness and Language being 
inordinately developed j and they seldom ,'go beyond mimicry during their 
lives. We recollect no instance of an infant Koscius becoming an adult 
one." —Annals of Phrenology, vol. i. p. 61. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 163 

collocation of parts bearing a functional resemblance, is a 
strong presumptive evidence in confirmation of phrenology. 

Are the faculties always affected in the same manner? 

They are not. They may be affected painfully or the 
reverse according to circumstances. If I see a generous 
action performed, my Benevolence, supposing it to be 
full, is agreeably excited, and gratification is the result: 
an act of cruelty, on the other hand, affects it painfully, 
and produces a disagreeable feeling. Conscientiousness is 
gratified by honesty, and shocked by knavery; Adhesive- 
ness is delighted in the society of a beloved friend, and 
pained by his absence or death. Acquisitiveness receives 
gratification from wealth, and is hurt by its loss. Objects 
of beauty please Ideality; squalid, filthy, disgusting objects 
pain it. The faculties, therefore, may be affected in two 
ways. Their agreeable affection constitutes pleasing; their 
disagreeable, painful emotions of the mind. 

Is the exercise of any of the faculties pernicious? 

This depends upon whether the degree in which they are 
exercised amounts to an abuse. All the faculties are in 
themselves good, if legitimately employed. The Creator 
endowed us with the whole of them that they might be ra- 
tionally gratified; and any man who affirms that even a 
single one ought to be utterly stifned or blotted out, as it 
were, from the human mind is, in reality, offering an insult 
to the Divine Being by whom that mind was created. Some 
well-meaning, but unenlightened persons, imagine that such 
innocent occupations as dancing, music, mirth, and theatrical 
representations are offensive in the eyes of God. Now 
what is the tendency of this allegation, but to charge the 
Almighty with creating a number of useless or improper 
faculties? We have organs of Tune and Time, which 
inspire the love of music and dancing, and induce us to visit 
concerts and balls. We have an organ of Wit whose func- 



164 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

tion is to give rise to mirthfulness. We have one of Ideality, 
which communicates poetic rapture, and experiences grati- 
fication in the magnificent performances of a Siddons, a 
Talma, or a Kean. If we do not allow the passion for these 
amusements to go to excess : if we indulge it moderately, 
avoiding abuse of the faculties from whence it springs, we are 
not only not doing what is morally wrong, but we are doing 
what is positively right, in so far as we thus obey a rational 
and beneficial impulse implanted in our minds by the author 
of nature, and wisely intended for our good. Dancing, 
music, poetry, and theatrical representations of a moral 
character, when had recourse to in the intervals of more 
urgent and laborious pursuits, have an excellent effect on 
the brain. They innocently and agreeably stimulate the 
different organs, especially those of the Sentiments and 
Intellect, and their tendency, instead of being pernicious, is 
highly favourable to virtue. What would be thought of the 
sanity of that man who proposed that the eyes should be 
perpetually blindfolded, and the ears stuffed with cotton, 
because we may misemploy the former in wilfully witnessing 
scenes of cruelty, or the latter in listening to obscene songs 
or profligate conversation. Those who proscribe the legiti- 
mate gratification of any of the faculties are acting a part 
equally foolish. 

What is the cause of mental precocity? 

It has its origin in premature development or excitement 
of the intellectual organs. The source of such prematurity, 
however, is rather obscure, but it seems to be connected in 
general with a high Nervous Temperament. Lymphatic 
or Bilious children are seldom precocious. Precocity is 
peculiarly common among the scrofulous, rickety, 105 and 



105 An American physician, Dr. Brigham, has published a little work 
entitled " Remarks on the influence of Mental Cultivation and Mental 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 165 

consumptive. These states of constitution are accompanied 
with an irritable state of frame, which extends its influence 
to the brain, and thus causes a premature manifestation of 
its functions. 

Why do precocious children generally turn out very ordin- 
ary as adults f 

It is a law of nature, that when an organ is vehemently 
exercised, before acquiring full consistency and strength, its 
functions become impaired. A horse sent to the turf very 
young has its constitution often ruined, and the same is the 
case with youthful prize-fighters and recruits. The brain is 
no exception to the general rule. 

Ought the mind of a child who exhibits marks of early 
genius, to be much exercised? 

Quite the reverse. We ought to consider the brain of 
such a child as in a state of unnatural excitement bordering 
on disease; and if it be fond of thinking or studying much, 
the habit ought rather to be checked than encouraged. If 
we work the brain much, it is ten to one that it gets diseased, 
and the child is either cut off early, or lives to be, for ever 
after, a very common-place person, perhaps a blockhead. 
Hydrocephalus, or water in the head, is sometimes produced 
in children by over-exertion of the brain. 
Does the same rule apply to dull children ? 

Not so powerfully. The minds of these children ought to 
be exercised, so as to give health to, and stimulate the brain; 
they need the spur instead of the bridle. Even here, how- 
ever, there is a limit which it is dangerous to transgress. 
The brain of no child whatever ought to be much worked; 
moderate exercise is all that should be attempted. Very 

Excitement on Health," which throws a flood of light upon this important 
subject. It has been reprinted, with many additional notes, by Messrs. 
Reid & Co. Booksellers in Glasgow, and ought to be read by every parent 
and teacher of youth. 



166 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

great evils result from school education being too severe and 
too early begun. 

How happens it that dull children often prove very clever 
as adults ? 

From the fact, that in some individuals the intellectual 
organs are slow of reaching maturity, either from late growth 
or late excitement. Some minds are very late of being 
evolved. Gessner the Swiss Poet was, at the age of ten 
years, declared by his preceptors incapable of any attain- 
ment; and Swift, Thomson, Sir Walter Scott, and Dr. 
Johnson, were very dull lads. Massillon, Byron, Gibbon, 
and Voltaire, exhibited in boyhood and youth no indications 
of more than ordinary talent; while Sir Isaac Newton, 
according to his own account, ranked very low in the school 
till the age of twelve, when his superior powers began to 
develop themselves. Persons in whom the reflective organs 
predominate over the perceptive, are more likely to be con-* 
sidered dull in youth, than when there is an opposite con- 
figuration of brain; the former reflective organs, as already 
mentioned, being longer of attaining maturity of action than 
the others. 

From what parent do children chiefly derive their qualities $ 

In colour and form, the father, if these are in him very 
strong, transmits a greater share of his qualities, apparently 
because he is frequently before the mother, and thus im- 
presses her strongly with the idea of them; but in giving 
temperament and shape of brain, the mother's influence 
seems to be the greatest. Hence a clever woman and an 
ordinary man, are more likely to have talented children 
than the converse. Men of genius generally marry dull 
women — hence their children are often dull. 106 Another 



106 If both parents are talented, there is every chance of the children 
being so. The union of Godwin and Mary Wolstoncroft, produced Mrs. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 167 

reason is, that such men frequently infringe the organic laws, 
by overworking their brains, and not studying the rules of 
health sufficiently: defective brains are in this way trans- 
mitted to their children. 107 

Why are the first-born of parents who marry very young, 
generally inferior in intellect and morality to those that come 
afterwards f 

Parents communicate their qualities of brain to offspring. 
In young parents, the activity of the propensities is greater, 
and that of the intellect and moral sentiments less than at 
a later period. A child produced at a time when the cere- 
bral system of its father and mother is in this immature 
state, partakes of the defect, and retains it through life. 108 
Those produced, when the intellect and moral feelings are 
brought into more vigorous operation, naturally enjoy the 



Shelley, the distinguished author of Frankenstein; and other examples 
might be adduced. 

Vice is propagable from parents to their children, in the same way as 
virtue and talent. Henry II. of France and his Queen, Catherine de 
Medici3, were cruel and atrocious bigots. The former, on the coronation of 
his wife, burned many protestants alive, and regaled himself with the horrid 
spectacle. Catherine, who succeeded him as Regent, was not less infamous 
for her cruelty. From this abominable couple sprung three sons still more 
wicked than their parents,— viz. Francis II., Charles IX., and Henry III.; 
the second named being the author of the horrid massacre of St. Bartholo- 
mew's day, on which occasion 40,000 Protestants were butchered in cold 
blood. 

107 For much valuable information on the subject of the transmission of 
hereditary qualities from parents to their children, the reader is referred to 
Dr. .Caldwell's admirable little work entitled " Thoughts on Physical 
Education," a reprint of which has lately appeared in Edinburgh under the 
auspices of Mr. Combe and Mr. Robert Cox, the former of whom has 
furnished it with a preface, and the latter with a variety of excellent notes. 
See also Mr. Combe's " Constitution of Man." 

108 I confess myself a participator in the vulgar belief that impressions 
made upon the mother's mind during pregnancy may affect the offspring. 
There are many cases to prove this. Mr. Bennet relates a very striking 
one in the •* London Medical and Physical Journal." A woman gave birth 



168 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

benefit of this improved condition of brain, and the proba- 
bilities are, that they will surpass the eldest born both in 
talents and in virtue. 

What is the best plan for insuring a good brain to our 
offspring ? 

The first great point is obedience to the organic laws of 
marriage, which command us to choose for partners only- 
such as have a good cerebral organization. The next is 
ample nourishment in childhood, with considerable bodily, 
and moderate mental exercise. 
In which sex do the faculties soonest reach maturity f 
In the female. Woman attains her full stature and pro- 
portions earlier than man; and the same law prevails also 
with regard to the manifestations of her mind. 

Is mental maturity attained at the same age in all nations f 
No. In the tropics this occurs several years earlier than 
in the colder regions. 

Has the size of brain any effect upon the voice f 

It has, especially if the organs of Firmness, Combative- 



to a child with a large cluster of globular tumours growing from the tongue, 
and preventing the closure of the mouth, in colour, shape, and size exactly- 
resembling our common grapes j and with a red excrescence from the chest 
as exactly resembling in figure and general appearance a turkey's wattles. 
On being questioned, before the child was shown her, she answered that, 
while pregnant, she had seen some grapes, longed intensely for them and 
constantly thought of them, and once was attacked by a turkey cock. 
James VI. of Scotland had a great abhorrence of a drawn sword, and was, 
withal, timid and cowardly ; which difference of character from that of all 
the line of Stewart which preceded and followed him has been attributed, 
not irrationally, to the circumstance of Rizzio having been butchered before 
the eyes of Queen Mary then enceinte with the future monarch. According 
to Esquirol, the children whose existence dated from the horrors of the first 
French Revolution turned out to be weak, nervous, and irritable in mind, 
extremely susceptible of impressions, and liable to be thrown, by the least 
extraordinary excitement, into absolute insanity. The story of Jacob and 
the rods, as related in the 30th chapter of Genesis, is a proof of the belief in 
ancient time that parental impressions may affect the offspring. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 169 

ness, and Destructiveness are large. Large-brained people 
have generally a loud, energetic pronunciation— small- 
brained the reverse. 

Why are certain individuals much liked by some and 
hated by others ? 

Individuals with large organs of Benevolence, Self-Es- 
teem, and Destructiveness, will be objects of love or aver- 
sion, according to the dispositions of those they associate 
with. If they come in contact with people who are also 
largely endowed with the two latter organs, they will pro- 
bably be disliked, from the almost necessary collision of 
faculties which will ensue betwixt the parties. Meeting 
with persons in whom the organs in question are small, or 
only moderately developed, no such collision takes place; 
and their Benevolence, having uninterrupted sway, comes 
into operation, and attracts towards themselves the kindly 
feelings of those persons. 

Why are brave people generally affectionate f 

This arises from the curious fact, that when Combativeness 
is greatly developed, there is almost always a large organ of 
Adhesiveness. Accordingly, brave men have ever been 
remarked for the strength of their attachments. General 
Wurmser had both organs large, and he displayed the cor- 
responding faculties powerfully. In the skull of king Robert 
Bruce, Adhesiveness is amply developed; and history repre- 
sents him as an affectionate husband and friend. 

Why are passionate people remarkable for their dislikes 
and attachments ? 

Such persons have in general exciteable temperaments, 
very active brains; and this activity applies to Destructive- 
ness and Adhesiveness, in common with other organs. The 
excitement of the first named will produce irascibility and 
hatred, that of the latter affection and kindness. 

Why does it sometimes happen that a servant who has 

H 



170 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

been under two mistresses is esteemed by one a person ofex~ 
cellent temper, and by the other quite the reverse f 

This arises undoubtedly from the different constitutions 
of mind possessed by the two mistresses. If the servant is 
destructive and the mistress the same, the hasty temper of 
the former will probably often appear : if the mistress is of 
a mild disposition, the organ of Destructiveness in the servant 
will not be called into activity, and she will be regarded b}' 
her employer as possessed of a very good temper. This 
teaches us that, in selecting servants, care should be taken to 
procure those whose dispositions will accord with our own. 
By neglecting this obvious rule, quarrels are perpetually 
occurring, and a great deal of domestic annoyance is the 
result. It teaches, moreover, something still more important. 
If a man, for instance, with large Destructiveness, Comba- 
tiveness and Firmness, marries a woman similarly organized, 
there is a great chance of unhappiness, unless the parties 
have the most admirable prudence and self-command. 
Common observation points out the consequences of such 
ill-assorted unions. 

Has Phrenology been ever usefully employed in the selec- 
tion of servants? 

It has, and with such success that some phrenologists will 
not engage a servant without ascertaining his or her char- 
acter by examination of the head. The practice is altogether 
excellent, and should be more generally had recourse to. 
A full development of Order, Individuality, and Conscien- 
tiousness is absolutely essential to a good domestic. Where 
children are to be taken care of, Philoprogenitiveness ought 
to be large, otherwise little interest will be felt in them. 
Veneration, which bestows deference to superiors, should 
also be well developed, especially if the master or mistress 
possesses much Self-Esteem. A servant with a small 
brain and feeble character may suit an employer similarly 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 171 

situated, but will not answer one whose brain is large and active. 
To the latter he will seem inefficient or useless. The servant, 
however, ought not to excel his master in intellect or force of 
character. If such is the case, he will intuitively feel that 
nature has made him superior to the master he serves. An 
active temperament is in every case essential. Where the 
lymphatic tendency prevails, smartness and vivacity will be 
absent, and work felt to be toilsome and oppressive. Because 
a servant is rejected by one master, on the score of ineffi- 
ciency, it by no means follows that he may not make a very 
fair one to another, with a different cerebral combination. 109 

If a woman with a large active brain, marines a small- 
brained man, what is likely to ensue? 

She will rule her husband. As already mentioned, a 
large brain acquires an ascendency over a small one. 

Why, then, do weak women sometimes rule men superior to 
themselves in intellect and force of character? 

Such men will often give way in trifling matters to their 
wives for the sake of peace, but not in affairs of real impor- 
tance. A sensible man will not run the risk of quarrelling 
with a silly woman, when, by yielding in things of no great 
moment, he can keep her quiet. Independently of this, 
strong-minded men are often very much attached to their 



109 u In' one instance, I refused to hire a boy as a servant, because I found 
his head to belong to the inferior class, although he was introduced by a 
woman whose good conduct and discrimination I had long known, and who 
gave him an excellent character. That individual was, at first, greatly 
incensed at my refusing to engage the boy; but within a month she returned, 
and said that she had been grossly imposed upon herself by a .neighbour, 
whose son the boy was ; that she had since learned that he was a thief, and 
had been dismissed from his previous service for stealing. On another 
occasion, I hired a female servant, because her head belonged to the superior 
class, although her former mistress gave her a very indifferent character ; 
and the result was equally in favour of phrenology. She turned out an excel- 
lent servant, and remained with me for several years, until she was respect- 
ably married."— Combe's System, 4th edition, vol. ii. p. 717. 



172 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

wives, however much inferior to themselves; and ar^ natur- 
ally not indisposed to gratify their whimsicalities. When 
a man, intellectually superior to his wife, is ruled and over- 
awed by her, it will be found that he is her inferior in the 
energy of the propensities. These, when strong and active, 
give force to the character, and a natural predominance to 
the individual over others more highly gifted with intellect, 
but with the propensities feebler. Such, sometimes, is the 
secret of female sway over intellectually superior minds. 

Why is parental generally stronger than filial love? 

Because in the first case both Adhesiveness and Philo- 
progenitiveness come into operation, whereas in the second 
it is Adhesiveness alone that acts. 

What does eccentricity arise from? 

From a want of due balance in the faculties. If one organ 
or more is large in proportion to the others, particularly 
where the intellect is weak, it will produce that irregularity 
of character to which the term eccentric is applied. Eccen- 
tricity frequently degenerates into madness. 

From what does a great flow of animal spirits proceed f 

From unusual activity of brain, accompanied often with 
deficient prudence and reflection, and a large development 
of Hope, Ideality, and Wit. Such cerebral activity is con- 
stitutional, and generally accompanied with a high sanguine- 
ous temperament. 

When an organ is much exercised, is pain ever felt in 
the site of it? 

Very often. Hard-thinking produces a sense of fulness 
or pain in the forehead, the seat of the intellectual organs. 
In excitement of Amativeness, there is frequently a sense of 
heat at the nape of the neck. When there exists a strong 
desire to travel, 110 pain is sometimes felt in the region of 

110 * A young lady," says Dr. Gall, "had always a great desire to travel. 
She eloped from her father's house with an officer. Grief and remorse un- 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 173 

Locality; and, in cases of spectral illusions, over the per- 
ceptive organs. 

What is the cause of spectral illusions? 

These phenomena depend on a morbidly excited state of 
some of the perceptive organs, such as Form, Size, and Colour; 
whence images are presented to the mind without the co- 
operation of the external senses. If the organ of Form, for 
instance, becomes as strongly stimulated by an internal cause 
as it would be by an object presented to it by the vision, some 
image will be formed, and the person will believe that he 
sees what in reality has no existence. Morbid affections of 
the nerves of sight seem to have the same influence in pro- 
ducing spectral illusions. 

Is the feeling of hunger experienced, strictly speaking, in 
the stomach f 

No. The term "craving of the stomach," so often used 
to express hunger, is not in reality correct. The brain is the 
craver, and is excited to a craving state only by emptiness 
of the stomach, unless the organ of Alimentiveness be so 
large, or so stimulated by some internal morbid action, as to 
need no such excitement; or unless disease be present in 
the stomach, so as to transmit to the brain the sensation 
which, during health, is transmitted during inanition alone. 

dermined her health. I attended her, and she made me remark two large 
prominences which, she said, the pain she had endured had caused to grow 
on her forehead. These excrescences, which appeared to her the conse- 
quences of divine wrath, were in fact the organs of Locality , to which she had 
never paid any attention." To this 1 may add, that a lady of my acquain- 
tance, in whom the organ of Philoprogenitiveness is very largely developed 
even for a woman, and whose love of children is extreme, informs me that 
when distressed or anxious about her family she experiences pain at the 
back of the head, just over the seat of the organ. Some deny the possibility 
of one part of a healthy brain being more gorged with blood than another. 
The above facts sufficiently demonstrate that such may be the case j nor can 
it be doubted that in a fit of violent rage, the portion of the cerebral mass 
which manifests Destructiveness is in a much more turgescent state than 
that appropriated to Benevolence. 



174 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

People are sometimes afflictedwith imaginary voices speak- 
ing to them : can you account for this? 

It may be explained in the same way as apparitions. 
There are unquestionably certain parts of the brain which 
take cognizance of sounds : we call the nerve of the ear the 
organ of hearing, but strictly speaking it is not such : it is 
merely the medium for conveying sounds to the brain, where 
the true organ resides. Now, suppose that the portion of the 
brain appropriated to this sense is stimulated by some internal 
cause, in the same way as it is by real sounds conveyed to 
it by the nerve, the person will have the idea that he hears, 
and that often as distinctly as if subjected to the stimulus of 
actual noise. Fanatics and deranged people sometimes 
imagine they hear angels, and even the Deity, speaking to 
them; and persons perfectly deaf have at times sensations as 
of voices addressing them, just as the blind are occasionally 
haunted by spectral illusions. All these phenomena are 
explicable upon the principles just mentioned. 111 

What are dreams? 

Dreams are merely spectral illusions — with this difference, 
that, in the former, only certain of the organs are vivified by 
the internal stimulus, while the rest are asleep; whereas, in 
the latter, all are in the usual waking state. When I see 
a ship sailing, in a dream, the organs of Form, Colouring, 
&c. are stimulated by some internal cause, just as they are 
in spectral illusions. 

Ill Nothing" is more common than spontaneous stimulation of the organ of 
Tune. We are then often haunted with what Matthews calls the ghost of 
a tune, which intrudes itself on all occasions, and sometimes under circum- 
stances peculiarly ludicrous. I have heard of a worthy clergyman, who, 
while in the pulpit one Sunday, felt an excessive desire to sing Maggie 
Lauder ; on going home the tendency to indulge in this profane freak became 
irresistible, and without more ado he went into his garden and sung the 
song with great glee. This done, the inclination vanished : his organ of 
Tune received the gratification for which it was craving, and the ghosfc 
of Maggie Lauder took to flight. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 175 

How does it happen that people of weak intellect some- 
times display considerable powers of mind during an attack 
of fever or inflammation of the brain f 

It is to be accounted for from the organs of the brain 
being stimulated by the disease; whence the faculties con- 
nected with these organs display unusual force, and an 
intellectual energy is exhibited of which, at other times, the 
person gives no indications. As soon, however, as the dis- 
ease is removed, the stimulus communicated by it to the 
organs ceases, and the customary state of imbecility returns. 
Even idiots sometimes become rational during fever. 

Explain why forgotten events are sometimes brought back 
to the mind in dreams. 

This is explicable on the same principle. During the 
dream, certain portions of the brain which bear a relation 
to the event are stimulated, and a resuscitation of it 
is the consequence. A man, for instance, hides or mislays 
money, and forgets where; but the brain being excited, the 
circumstance is vividly recalled; and if he is ignorant, as 
generally happens, of the cause of this phenomenon, he 
straightway infers that something supernatural has occurred, 
and that he has been favoured with intelligence by spiritual 
agency. 

Are all the cerebral organs liable to stimulation in madness, 
dreaming, drunkenness, fyc? 

So far as we know, they all are; and there is no obvious 
reason why any of them should be exempted from this law. 

Give a few instances of the stimulation of particular 
organs. 

People who never displayed any talent for poetry, 
music, calculation, or eloquence, have exhibited these 
qualities in considerable perfection during an attack of in- 
sanity, or even in dreams : the most chaste have become 
wanton in their conduct, and indecent in their language; 



176 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

thB most sedate witty; the most prosaic full of imagination. 
Even persons who never before displayed any thing like 
logical power, have reasoned profoundly, constituting in- 
stances of what Pinel calls " Folie Raisonnante," or Reason- 
ing Insanity. Such changes undoubtedly arise from the 
particular stimulus which has been communicated to the 
organs of the faculties concerned. 

May a man be a ready, eloquent, and impressive speaker, 
and yet possess no great intellect? 

Nothing is more common. It is generally but fallaciously 
imagined that eloquence is altogether an intellectual opera- 
tion; and hence those who excel in it are looked upon as 
necessarily possessing very superior talents. Much of the 
power of eloquence, however, is derived from the appeals 
made by it to the propensities and sentiments. A person 
who addresses the passions of a multitude, and carries his 
audience along with him, is truly eloquent; and yet in accom- 
plishing this oratorical feat, scarcely a single appeal may 
be made to the intellect of his hearers. The harangues of 
popular demagogues are almost all of this sort. They address 
the Self-Esteem, the Combativeness, and the Love of Appro- 
bation of the crowd, and the effect produced is often won- 
derful. The late Henry Hunt owed the power which he 
wielded of swaying a mob, to his strong propensities, finding 
a ready echo in those of his audience* In a war of the 
lower propensities he was a formidable gladiator, and so will 
any man be who is gifted with powerful passions, and a large 
organ of Language. The eloquence which appeals to the 
understanding alone, is indeed a very different and very 
superior accomplishment; but for common purposes it is little 
available, in so far as the average intellects of men are not 
sufficiently enlightened to relish it. This is the reason why 
some men of great talent are little appreciated as speakers 
by the multitude, while others, who appeal solely to the feel- 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 177 

ings of an audience, and whose intellectual calibre is exceed- 
ingly small, are looked upon as persons of distinguished 
genius. 

How is it that people of talent have sometimes small, and 
dull people large heads? 

To bestow talent, the intellectual organs only are neces- 
sary. A person may have these well developed, and yet the 
organs of the propensities and inferior sentiments may be 
so small, as to cause the head to be below the average 
size. Again, if the former class be small, and the latter very 
large, the head may be one of ample dimensions, and yet 
its owner be a most ordinary mortal. Where organs not re- 
markably developed accompany strong faculties, the mental 
cultivation will be found to have been great, and the quality 
of brain to be very superior. 

In a person of talent, would you expect a large intellectual 
development® 

I would, provided his talent was of a comprehensive kind; 
but it is quite possible to possess a genius for a particular 
subject, and yet have a poor general development of the 
intellectual organs. For instance, he may have great talent 
in calculation, in music, or in scholarship, by virtue of large 
organs of Number, Tune, or Language. People are often 
called clever, from possessing, in great perfection, one par- 
ticular faculty; and, having what phrenologists would call a 
poor development of brain, they are brought forward as 
illustrations of the fallacy of the science. George III. was 
called by some people a clever man, because he possessed 
great power of recollecting individuals whom he had seen. 
There was once a man who could repeat, from memory, 
the whole of the New Testament. Many hearing of such 
a prodigy, would infer that he must have been possessed 
of vast genius; yet he was little better than an idiot. 

Has a tall man a larger brain than one of moderate stature f 
H 2 



178 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS:. 

A sufficient number of observations appears still awanting' 
to determine this point satisfactorily; but it seems probable, 
that the brain of a tall, broad, powerful man, is, generally 
speaking, larger than that of a short man of an opposite make. 
The heads, at all events, of these men are commonly larger; 
but this may partly arise from the skull and integuments being 
generally very thick in athletic subjects. Large men, however, 
are usually inferior in intellect and energy of character to the 
middle-sized, and are far less likely to possess the same 
amount of genius with the same size of brain — the nervous 
energy being wasted over their unwieldy trunks in the 
processes of digestion, assimilation, secretion, &c. 112 " Large 
men," as Richerand justly remarks, " are seldom great men." 

Is great muscular exercise favourable to the vigorous 
action of the brain? 

Quite the reverse. A hard-working man, after finishing 
his day's labour, will be apt to fall asleep if he attempts to 
read. In him, the nervous energy is chiefly expended on 
the muscles, and too small a portion of it is sent to the 
intellectual organs, which, not being stimulated sufficiently, 
are in a state unfavourable to the process of thinking. In a 
country church, nothing is more common than to find half 
the congregation asleep during sermon; and the reason is 



1 12 Though large men seem to have, generally speaking, larger brains than 
the middle-sized, the exceptions to this rule are numerous. Gall, Byron, 
Cuvier, and Napoleon, had very large heads, and none of them exceeded 
the ordinary size ; the latter two, indeed, were rather below it. The same 
remark applies to Godwin, whose head was of great size. With regard to 
the fact of large bodies being unfavourable to mental activity and power, 
Spurzheim remarks, that " A large body will require the greater part of 
the brain and nervous system to be employed in its functions, and there 
will then remain a small portion for the manifestations of the superior 
faculties." I may here observe, that when the body is growing rapidly, the 
mind becomes weak, on account of the drafts made upon the brain, to effect 
the growth— in other words, to supply the nervous energy necessary for 
the proper performance of the digestive and assimilative functions. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 179 

obvious. Country people, working harder than citizens in 
general, have less vivacious brains. An intellectual effort 
overcomes them sooner, and they fall asleep, where the 
others would continue awake without difficulty. 

In certain cases of insanity, there is said to be no apparent 
disease of the brain: how is this reconcileable with phren- 
ology? 

Although there is no apparent, there must be real disease. 
Facts prove that disease may exist without its being possible 
to ascertain it by dissection. Such is often the case in tetanus, 
tic doloureux, and paralysis, where we can generally detect 
no change whatever in the nerves, the seat of those diseases. 
In like manner, digestion, or the biliary secretion, may be 
disordered, without the concomitance of any appreciable 
change in the stomach or liver; and so may it be with 
the brain in what are called mental diseases. The cases 
of insanity, however, in which this viscus is seemingly free 
from disease, must be exceedingly few in number, if any 
such there be at all. One of the most distinguished of 
modern physiologists, Mr. Lawrence, states that he has ex- 
amined the heads of many insane persons after death, and 
has hardly seen a single brain in which there were not 
obvious marks of disease. Dr. Wright of the Bethlehem 
Lunatic Asylum says, that in one hundred cases of insane 
individuals, whose heads he had examined, all exhibited 
signs of disease, more or less. A French writer, who has 
examined a still greater number, arrives at the same con- 
clusion. In short, it is more than probable, that in every 
case, a skilful person, who is accustomed to examine the 
brains of lunatics, will detect signs of disease. They may 
be so slight as to escape the notice of a common observer, 
but that they will be manifest to the minute, experienced, 
and talented pathologist, there is every reason to be- 
lieve. 



180 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 



How happens it that in extensive dropsy of the brain, the 
intellectual powers are not always destroyed? 

When hydrocephalus (or water in the head) occurs before 
the process of cranial ossification is perfected, or even at a 
later period, the bones yield to the action of the internal fluid, 
and the brain is thus, in a great measure, freed from a pressure 
which would otherwise speedily prove fatal. The size which 
the head then attains is often enormous. It is customary to 




Illustration of Hydrocephalus. 



say that in some such cases the intellect is not weakened, but 
this is a mistake. Destroyed it may not be, but impaired it 
always is, more or less. A hydrocephalic brain may exhibit 
tolerable aptitude where a very moderate demand is made 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 181 

upon its energies; but engage it in any task which requires 
considerable exertion, and its weakness and inefficiency will 
be abundantly evident. 

What do you think of the objection often made to phreno- 
logy, that the organs cannot be shown in a detached state, 
but only homogeneously connected? 11 ^ 

Every sensible person must think it a very absurd one. 
If the purpose of Nature had been to settle the doubts of a 
few incredulous individuals, instead of constructing the brain 
after the fashion best adapted for the performance of its 
functions, then, doubtless, she would have marked the 
limits of every organ with mathematical nicety and distinct- 
ness; but it has not pleased her to do this — at least so far 
as our powers of observation at present enable us to discover; 
and, accordingly, we must just take things as we find them 
— satisfied, that the animal economy exhibits no instance of 
one organ performing more than one function, and that in 
assigning different functions to different parts of the brain, 
Nature is only following one of her own invariable laws. 

Is not the tongue, though it possesses taste, sensation, and 
motion, three different functions, a single organ f 

There are certainly three functions combined in the tongue, 



113 Let such objectors point out (as was suggested in a humorous paper 
in the Phrenological Journal) where the chin ends and the cheeks begin, 
and then we shall allow their arguments to possess some force. No human 
being can point out the line of demarcation which separates those parts 
of the face, yet, I presume, every man of sound mind admits the exis- 
tence of chins, and the possibility of telling whether they are large or small. 
The organs of the brain are not a whit more intimately blended together, 
than is the chin, or even the nose, with the cheeks. In looking at a moun- 
tain, no person can tell the precise point where it commences, and the plain 
terminates; still, common sense informs us, that there is a mountain before 
our eyes. In looking at the rainbow, or through a prism, we see a variety 
of differently coloured rays, yet who can define the limits of each;? Though 
perfectly distinct, they are blended together in a way that defies the point- 
ing out of their limits. So it is with the organs of the brain. 



182 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

it must be considered that each of these is effected by means 
of a distinct organ or nerve. We have a nerve for taste, 
another for sensation, and a third for motion — so that, 
strictly speaking, the tongue is not a single organ, but 
combines in itself several, by means of which its varied 
functions are performed. Its different nerves can perform 
only their own functions and no other; thus, in the gus- 
tatory nerve resides the sense of taste alone, and not that 
of feeling — -just as, in the brain, the organ of Locality gives 
us the perception of places, and not that of music or colour. 
The fact, therefore, that one organ can perform only one 
function holds as true in the tongue as in the brain; and 
throughout the whole animal economy it is precisely the 
same. 114 

What is crime? 

The abuse of certain of the propensities : thus, theft is 
the abuse of Acquisitiveness, and murder of Destructive- 
ness. Crime, however, presupposes such a decree of sanity 
as to make us responsible agents, for no possible abuse of 
the propensities can be looked upon as criminal in a madman 
or an idiot. 

What is the origin of motives? 

Motives are desires or inclinations produced by the activity 
of the faculties; and this activity is owing to the excitement 
of the cerebral organs, either spontaneous, or the effect of 

114 Till the discovery of Sir Charles Bell, no person could anatomically 
demonstrate the existence of distinct nerves for motion and sensation. 
Spurzheim, judging- from analogy, inferred, that there must be separate 
nerves for each of these functions, and urged anatomists to prosecute the 
subject, and endeavour to find them out. Sir Charles Bell was the lucky 
discov erer. He ascertained that the one set of nerves arises from the anterior, 
and the other from the posterior part of the spinal marrow, that they unite 
almost immediately, and are so intimately blended, that they cannot be 
distinguished or disentangled. They are, in fact, as completely incorporated, 
to all appearance, as the different organs of the brain, and constitute a tex- 
ture seemingly even more homogeneous than the cerebral mass. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 183 

external circumstances, or, what is most frequent, arising* 
from both. 

Would evert/ man have acted as the murderer Hare did, 
if placed in the same circumstances? 

No. Few men could possibly have done so, and none 
unless they had possessed a cerebral organization similar to 
Hare's. No longing for money, no privation, however great, 
could have made thieves or murderers of such men as Fenelon 
and Howard. 

What is the cause of certain organs being too large or too 
active ? 

This very often arises from infringement of the organic 
laws in marriage. If a man with great Combativeness and 
Destructiveness, marries a woman similarly endowed, their 
children will probably possess the preponderating organs 
still larger and more active than the parents. The activity 
of the propensities is often increased by drinking, and the 
contamination of bad society, for the same reason that the 
vigour of the reflecting faculties is augmented by reading, 
and other salutary intellectual exercises. 

May deficiency in the size of certain organs be also occa- 
sioned by infringement of the organic laws? 

Undoubtedly. A man and woman very deficient in Con- 
scientiousness, will be apt to produce dishonest children. 
If both parents have a poor intellectual development, their 
offspring almost always inherit the same — in most cases 
to a worse degree. 

Have the heads of criminals any peculiarity of formation? 

They have, in so far that not an instance can be pointed out, 
of a criminal, or notoriously worthless character, having such 
a moral and intellectual development as Melancthon or Sully. 
In the heads of criminals, there is generally a great pre- 
dominance of the organs of the propensities over those of 
the moral sentiments — a large mass of brain in the posterior 



184 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 



and basilar regions, and a comparatively small portion in 
the frontal and coronal regions. Some malefactors, how- 
ever, are drawn into crime more by unfavourable circum- 
stances than by natural depravity ; while other men, strongly 
disposed to crime, but rather fortunately situated in worldly 
matters, refrain, through dread of the consequences, from 
committing it. People with a good moral development, 
occasionally commit crimes from a diseased action of 
the brain. Such persons are virtually deranged, although 
this circumstance is not always taken into consideration. 

What character results from a pretty equal development 
of the propensities , sentiments , and intellect? 

It will be good, bad, or indifferent, according to the situa- 
tion in which the individual is placed. If in favourable 
circumstances, well educated, and under the influence of 
good example, he may turn out a very fair member of society; 




Sheridan. 



if exposed to the contaminating influence of vice, he will be 
apt to run into it, and become a rogue. Sheridan was a 
man of this stamp. So long as he had plenty of money he 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 185 

maintained a fair character for respectability; but when his 
circumstances decayed, he sunk into disreputable and vicious 
courses, and died in poverty and contempt. Many with such 
a configuration of head have perished on the scaffold, owing 
to their being unfavourably situated for the manifestion of 
their moral sentiments, and but too favourably for the indul- 
gence of the propensities. This remark applies to Max- 
well who was executed at Dumfries for theft. In him, also, a 
pretty uniform balance of the three sets of faculties 
existed. 

From what do such differences proceed ? 

From the particular faculties which are most exercised 
taking the lead. In virtuous society, the higher feelings, 
such as Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, 
are cherished, and the lower ones, as Destructiveness, Com- 
bativeness, and Amativeness, repressed; whence the former 
(in a case where both are equally strong by nature) pre- 
dominate. Reverse the case, and the predominance is 
given to the latter. No good example could ever have 
made a virtuous character of such a man as Bellingham, 
armed, as he was, with an enormous supremacy of the 
lower faculties; nor could any conceivable familiarity with 
scenes of vice have made a villain of Fenelon or Howard. 
Such a doctrine, some people may say, makes man a mere 
machine. With this the disciples of Gall have nothing to 
do. They simply reveal nature as they find it. Facts 
demonstrate that a certain physical organization is invariably 
accompanied with a particular mental constitution. It is 
the will of the Divine Being that such a correspondence 
should exist, and phrenologists are but the humble interpre- 
ters of His laws as they affect the brain. Let those whose 
cerebral system is happily constituted, thank the Almighty 
Power, from whom they have their being, that He has so 
beneficently endowed them; but let them deal gently with 



186 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

those whom it has been His pleasure to form after a less 
perfect model. 

Is not one faculty modified by the influence of another ? 

This is true as respects the result of the faculty, but not 
as respects the force of the faculty itself. For instance, a 
man offends me, and my excited Destructiveness prompts 
me to knock him down; but I am restrained by Cautiousness 
from so doing. The desire to strike is here nowise lessened; 
in other words, the activity of Destructiveness is not abated: 
the result merely to which it would otherwise lead is modi- 
fied. 

Is the activity of one organ ever increased by that of 
another ? 

Undoubtedly. If we look at a beautiful child, we ex- 
perience at once kindly feelings towards him, from Philo- 
progenitiveness and Ideality calling our Benevolence into 
active operation. If Ideality is offended by a loathsome 
reptile, Destructiveness is excited, and we are disposed to 
trample it under foot, however innoxious the creature may 
be. Conscientiousness, offended by false suspicions against 
one's self, excites Destructiveness. Dr. Combe suggests, 
that it is from the contiguity of the organs of Adhesiveness, 
Combativeness, and Destructiveness, that domestic dissen- 
sions are the most bitter and irreconcileable of any. 115 The 
latter organ is violently excited by drinking, which has led 



115 "A curious example of the effect of Benevoleuce in rousing Des- 
tructiveness, is furnished by the history of Montbar, a Frenchman, who 
was /so furiously exasperated by reading 1 , in early life, accounts of the 
cruelties of the Spaniards in America, that he joined the Bucaneers, a body 
of pirates long the scourge of navigators in the West Indies. So much, 
and so frequently did this man gall the Spaniards, during the whole of his 
life, that he acquired from them the name of ■ the Exterminator.' Of 
course, the independent energy of his Destructiveness itself must have been 
very.'great."— See an admirable paper by Mr. Robert Cox, in the Phrenological 
JournalfyoX, ix. p. 402. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. ]87 

some to conjecture, that this is owing to its being in the 
immediate neighbourhood of Alimentiveness, the organ 
which is peculiarly excited by intoxication. This doctrine, 
however, of one organ being stimulated from the contiguity 
of another, in an excited state, though highly plausible, is 
open to serious objections. If Alimentiveness, for instance, 
excite Destructiveness, why does not Destructiveness excite 
Alimentiveness, and thus render a man desirous to eat 
when in a passion ? 

What should be the main purposes of education ? 

To cultivate and direct the moral and intellectual faculties, 
by means of exercise, instruction, and example, and to re- 
press, as much as possible, the undue activity of the lower 
feelings. In most people, the three classes of faculties are 
nearly on a par; and upon education and example does it 
greatly depend which shall take the lead in life. 

How is Phrenology useful in education, seeing that a 
person's talents and dispositions may be ascertained without 
its aid? 

The greater our knowledge of the mental faculties, the 
more perfectly are we made acquainted with the manner in 
which they ought to be cultivated and applied. Phrenology 
gives us this knowledge in a way superior to any other source 
of information, and, therefore, must be eminently useful in 
the education of youth. Independently of this, talents and 
dispositions are very far from being so easily found out as is 
sometimes imagined; and whatever tends to facilitate their 
discovery, must be looked upon as a matter of high import- 
ance. Both these purposes being served by Phrenology, its 
uses in education are sufficiently obvious. 

Has the size of the lungs any influence on the brain's 
activity ? 

Doubtless it has. When the lungs are large, the blood 
is more highly vivified, the circulation stronger, and the 



188 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS* 

brain nourished more completely, than when these organs 
are small. Byron was a middle-sized man, but his lungs 
were gigantic in their proportions; which may, perhaps, 
account in some degree for his astonishing cerebral activity. 
At the same time, it is not to be inferred, that because a 
man's respiratory organs are large, his brain will necessarily 
be an active one. All I mean to say is, that — other things 
being equal — a large-lunged man will display greater vigour 
and activity of mind than one in whom the lungs are small. 

Have all kinds of food the same influence on the energy 
of the brain f 

No. Animal food stimulates the cerebral structure, and 
contributes to its activity, much more than vegetable. If a 
person is fed too much on vegetable diet, the mental powers 
become enfeebled. In work-houses, where the inmates 
have poor diet, and that often not in sufficient quantity, 
there may be remarked a general want of vigour in the 
mind. Ill-fed children are far less likely to possess power- 
ful intellects than those who are properly nourished. Man 
partaking of the qualities of a carnivorous and graminivorous 
animal, it was not the intention of nature that he should be 
restricted to a merely vegetable diet. From such a diet 
the brain does not receive sufficient stimulus, and is apt to 
fall into a torpid state. A considerable allowance of animal 
food is necessary, especially in temperate and cold climates, 
to excite the cerebral structure properly, and keep it in 
healthy and vigorous action. Still there is a limit which 
must not be transgressed. An undue quantity of such food 
over-stimulates the brain, particularly in the region of the 
propensities, and gives rise to improper action of these 
organs. The effect of animal diet taken in large quantities, 
is well exhibited in the ferocity with which dogs who are 
fed much upon it, are soon inspired. 

Do phrenologists assign any organ for memory ? 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 189 

They do not. Memory is an attribute of ali the intel- 
lectual faculties, and not a primitive mental power. If it 
were, a person whose memory was good for one thing, 
should possess it in equal perfection for all; but this is not 
the case. We meet with people who have a great memory 
for words, and an indifferent one for events; who recollect 
localities and forms accurately, but have little power of 
remembering music. This proves, that memory is not a 
separate faculty, and cannot have a special organ. A per- 
son with a good development of Language, has a memory 
for words; a second, with large Number, for numbers; a 
third, with large Tune, for music; and so on. Thus, memory 
is connected with all the intellectual faculties, and is merely 
one of the modes of their action. 

What opinion would you form of a person who has a 
bad memory ? 

Either that his intellect, wholly or in part, has never been 
cultivated, or that it is naturally very common-place. 
Memory being the manifestation of vigorous faculties, it 
follows, that when it is bad, these faculties also must be 
deficient in energy, either from natural feebleness or want 
of exercise. No maxim is more false, than that " great wits 
have short memories." The memory of every man of talent 
is, by nature, a good one, in matters having relation to his 
talent. If he allows his faculties to rust, by not employing 
them, he has only himself to blame for his defective memory. 

Why does memory so strikingly fail in old age f 

Because the faculties, of which it is a mode of action, 
fail. 

Are not Perception, Attention, and Conception, primitive 
mental powers ? 

The metaphysicians say so, but Phrenology denies the 
assertion. According to our doctrine, they are merely differ- 
ent modes of action of the knowing and reflecting faculties. 



190 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

Perception is the lowest degree. If I hear a violia played 
in the street, my organ of Tune is stimulated, and I per- 
ceive the music. Attention is perception with an effort. 
If my Tune is in such a state of vigorous excitement as to 
enable me to compose or conceive music, the process of 
Conception then takes place, and the organ is in the highest 
state of activity. Perception, Attention, and Conception, 
therefore, are, like Memory, connected with all the intellec- 
tual faculties. They are simply particular states of activity 
of those faculties. 

What is the cause of enthusiasm? 

It may arise from various sources. Thus, when Tune is 
very large and active, the individual is enthusiastic about 
music; when Veneration and Wonder predominate, he is 
an enthusiast in religion; with Combativeness and Destruc- 
tiveness greatly developed, he may be an enthusiastic 
soldier or prize-fighter. Ideality gives poetical enthusiasm, 
and also vivifies that arising from the other faculties. Large 
Hope, with small Cautiousness and Causality, produce the 
scheming enthusiast. And so on. In all, an active tem- 
perament is generally found. 

Give a phrenological explanation of grief 

The faculties are so constituted with relation to external 
objects and occurrences, as to be affected agreeably by some 
of them, and the reverse by others. Acquisitiveness, for ex- 
ample, is gratified by pecuniary gain, and annoyed by loss : 
Adhesiveness delights in the society of a friend, and suffers 
pain at his death. Grief, then, is simply the painful affec- 
tion of these or o-ther faculties; and, while the excitement 
continues, no reasoning or consolation is able to root out 
the painful sensation from the mind. Grief is to Adhesive- 
ness, or whatever organ is painfully affected, exactly what 
toothach is to the nerves of the teeth : when the excitement 
of these nerves subsides, so does the pain; and in like 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 191 

manner, when the irritated organs in the brain return to 
their habitual condition, the sorrow gives way to calmness 
and peace. 

What is envy? 

It is the result of Destructiveness and offended Self-Es- 
teem acting in combination, and producing hatred in conse- 
quence of another's success. 

What is selfishness f 

The quality of mind resulting from great Acquisitiveness 
and Self-Esteem, with deficient Benevolence. 

What does common sense depend upon ? 

Upon a harmonious arrangement of the Propensities, 
Sentiments, and Intellect — where all are so equally balanced 
as not to interfere with or run counter to one another. 
General Washington was an admirable instance of this 
beautiful adaptation. Strictly speaking, he had no very 
shining qualities, and little of what might be called genius. 
As a general, he was nothing to Hannibal, Napoleon, or 
Frederic of Prussia; as a philosopher, he could not be 
named with Franklin, and as a legislator he has been often 
surpassed. Whence, then, arose his greatness ? The secret 
lay in his admirable common sense : his judgment, from the 
manner in which his faculties were combined, was surprisingly 
sound; his moral sentiments were elevated and noble; and 
his propensities were finely kept in subordination. This com- 
bination rendered him a truly great man, and as such he has 
been universally recognized by the world. Common sense 
is a rare quality, and many persons are said to possess it 
who have no claim whatever to such a distinction. 

What does indolence arise from ? 

From inactivity of brain, either natural to the person, and 
in constant or frequent existence; or accidental, the result of 
indigestion, bad health, or some other temporary cause. 

What is the origin of insipidity of character? 



192 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

It is connected with an inert brain and small Destmctive- 
ness, and is most apt to accompany the lymphatic tempera- 
ment. 

How do you explain the phenomena of laughter and 
weeping f 

It is not easy to determine why certain mental states give 
rise to these and other bodily affections. The following 
are my views, and, after all, they do not throw much light 
on the subject: — When certain parts of the body are 
affected in certain modes, other parts are simultaneously 
affected, in virtue of a mysterious law of the animal consti- 
tution, called the law of sympathy. When an irritating sub- 
stance is thrown into the eyes, or drawn up into the nostrils, 
the diaphragm and pectoral muscles act violently, and pro- 
duce sneezing. When the lungs are irritated by mucus or 
other foreign agents introduced into them, a similar result 
follows, and we cough. When the organ of Destructive- 
ness is roused, the facial muscles are affected in such a 
manner as to give the countenance the natural language of 
rage. A man who suffers acute pain, suddenly inflicted, 
screams or howls. Terror makes the knees smite each 
other. In the same way, it appears, that laughter is 
the natural language of highly pleasurable affections of the 
cerebral organs. Tickle a child, and he laughs immoderately. 
Give him a piece of money; praise him; play a trick before 
him; please him in any way, and the result is laughter. 
Even Destructiveness has its sardonic laugh. On the other 
hand, weeping generally proceeds from disagreeable affec- 
tions of the organs. Beat, scold, or thwart a child, and he 
cries bitterly. The loss of friends is a standard source of 
weeping. Adults are less easily moved to tears than chil- 
dren; the cause of which seems to be, that they are more 
able to regulate the action of their faculties. There is 
another source of tears, in moods called pathetic, which are 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 193 

Tather agreeable than the reverse. We weep on reading an 
affecting story, such as "Julia de Roubigne," and at behold- 
ing a pathetic play such as " Romeo and Juliet," and the 
feeling is, upon the whole, a pleasurable and not a painful 
one. 

What is the phrenological theory of jealousy f 
This state of mind is a combination of selfishness with 
suspicion; that is to say, it proceeds from Self-Esteem, 
Secretiveness, and Cautiousness, in combination with Ac- 
quisitiveness, or some other faculty desiring enjoyment. 
What does hypocrisy result from? 

From Secretiveness in excess, with deficient Conscien- 
tiousness. To persist in a course of hypocrisy, a great deal 
of Firmness is requisite. 

From what does credulity proceed f 
It arises, generally, from too much Veneration, Wonder, 
or Hope, but its direction varies according as one or other 
of these organs is large. Veneration renders people credu- 
lous with respect to what is affirmed by those whom they 
revere, Hope with respect to the occurrence of wished-for 
events, and Wonder with respect to whatever is marvellous 
or mysterious. Very large Self-Esteem, it may be farther 
observed, disposes a flattered person to credulity, by giving 
him the idea that he really merits the adulation bestowed. 
Credulity is, in a great measure, counteracted by a powerful 
and well-instructed understanding. 
What is the cause of incredulity ? 

A deficiency of the organs which dispose to credulity, is 
one cause. It may, however, arise, in many cases, from 
ignorance. Thus, an illiterate clown laughs in your face, if 
you tell him that the earth is shaped like an orange, and 
moves round the sun; or that the stars which we see 
twinkling in the firmament, are, each of them, a great deal 
larger than the earth. 



194 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

Some people are exceedingly nice, dainty, and finical, in 
all they say or do: What is the cause of this? 

It probably arises from a great devolopment of Individu- 
ality and Order, particularly where the organs of the 
Reflective Faculties are moderate, and the person is not 
familiar with science and the more arduous pursuits of human 
life. 

From what do impudence and forwardness proceed ? 

An individual in whom Combativeness and Self-Esteem 
are large, and Secretiveness, Cautiousness, Love of Appro- 
bation, Benevolence, and Conscientiousness moderate, will 
certainly be forward and impudent. Knowledge of the 
world, by teaching the insignificance of self, tends to allay 
impudence. 

What is the cause of frivolity ? 

Frivolity results from a small and very active brain. A 
large-brained person may be dull, but he can hardly be 
frivolous. 

What is the cause of presence of mind ? 

Its chief elements are Combativeness, Firmness, Secre- 
tiveness, Self-Esteem, Hope, and probably Individuality. 
The first two give courage and resolution to meet the unex- 
pected contingency; the third enables the person to conceal 
his feelings of alarm or astonishment, if he has any; the fourth 
and fifth inspire him with confidence, and the last commu- 
nicates quickness of observation, which will make him notice 
every thing at a glance, and thus give him an opportunity 
of promptly encountering whatever may occur. 

Why are religious people of excellent moral character 
sometimes seized with the distressful idea of their extreme 
unworthiness in the sight of Godf 

This arises from great Veneration, and small Hope and 
Self-Esteem. If to such a combination there is added a 
large development of Conscientiousness, the person will be 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 195 

apt to accuse himself of heinous offences against the Deity, 
and be haunted with the idea of eternal punishment. Fana- 
ticism and every form of religious enthusiasm and insanity 
are to be traced, without difficulty, to the immoderate or 
ill-regulated action of some of the organs of the brain. 

Some people acquire knowledge readily, and as readily 
forget it; in others the reverse happens: How do you explain 
such differences? 

It is supposed that they are occasioned by difference of 
quality of the brain, an active temperament giving quickness 
of memory, and an inactive one rendering it, cceteris paribus, 
slow but retentive. The causes, however, of these and some 
other differences of memory are still under investigation. 

Why are women! s prejudices stronger than merits f 

Partly because in the female brain the reflective organs 
are smaller, and partly because women mingle less with the 
world, and therefore enjoy fewer opportunities of having 
their prepossessions effaced by the friction of society. If 
men would address themselves more to the intellect, and 
less to the vanity of females, the latter would not only get 
rid of many prejudices, but occupy a far higher place as 
intellectual beings than they can possibly do in the present 
constitution of things. 116 Queen Elizabeth, and the Cather- 
ines of Russia, are striking examples of female vigour of 



116 The present century is more distinguished than any which has preceded 
it for the production of eminent females. Witness Baillie, Hemans, Bowles, 
and Landon, in poetry — Edgeworth, Ferriar, and the Porters, in prose, 
fiction — De Stael and Martineau in political disquisition — and the illustrious 
name of Sommerville, in the physical sciences. Such instances as the latter 
three, sufficiently demonstrate that even in those walks where the male 
intellect is supposed to be peculiarly strong, it may occasionally be rivalled 
by that of the other sex • and that it would be so much oftener, were women 
more favourably circumstanced for the development of their energies, can 
hardly admit of a doubt. Still, in a general sense, the superior size of the 
male brain will always give that sex a superiority. 



196 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

intellect; and the present age boasts of many illustrious ex- 
amples, though in a different sphere of life, and in a different 
walk. 

May activity of brain exist with little power ? 

It often does. A small brain in combination with a high 
nervous or sanguine temperament, will display activity; 
but, from its deficient dimensions, power, or intensity of 
function, will be awanting. To display the latter quality, a 
large brain is necessary. Dr. Spurzheim was of opinion, 
that length of fibre in the brain produces activity, and that 
breadth communicates power. 

May a person of common-place talent show power of mind? 

He may, but it will be the power of the propensities, 
and not of the intellect. A dog-fighter or an ignorant 
hackney-coachman, may, in this sense, be said to show more 
cerebral vigour than a Shakspeare or a Bacon. 

Have all nations the same tendency to emancipate them- 
selves from superstition? 

They have not. Other things, such, as education and 
intercourse with other nations, being equal, those nations 
in which the reflective organs exist in greatest perfection, 
will most readily unthrall themselves from superstitious 
absurdities. The difficulty of getting quit of them, however, 
must be doubly great, even with good intellect, where a 
large development of Wonder and Veneration is common, 
as is the case with the Hindoos and other Orientals. 

What nations possess the most intellectual form of head? 

Those undoubtedly which are of that variety denominated 
the white or Caucasian. Nations with this form of head, 
have a strong tendency to progress in refinement; while most 
other races remain in their primitive state of barbarism, or, 
at most, never go much beyond it. If the Negroes, the 
American Indians, the Hottentots, and other savage tribes, 
had possessed the European form of brain, they would have 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 197 

civilized themselves many centuries ago, and been in every 
respect on a par with the whites. On the contrary, they 
have done nothing* for themselves, and the little that has 
been done for them is the work of others. Some of these 
races are so deficient in intellect, that it has been found im- 
practicable to educate them: such seems to be the case with 
the aborigines of New Holland, Van Dieman's Land, and the 
United States of America. In the white races, on the con- 
trary, even though placed under the most unfavourable circum- 
stances for moral and intellectual improvement, as in Turkey 
and modern Greece, we can see the seeds of all the noblest 
faculties of our nature; and no sooner is the dead weight of 
tyranny and superstition which prevents their growth 
removed, than they burst into all the promise of a fruitful 
harvest. The Mongolian form of head has an intellectual 
development between that of the Caucasian and Ethiopian; 
and, accordingly, we find that some of the nations which 
possess it, such as the Chinese and Japanese, have made 
considerable strides in civilization; but having attained this, 
they continue stationary, as we at present find them, and 
seem incapable of advancing a step farther, at least by their 
own efforts. When the frontal and coronal regions of the 
brain are generally well developed in a nation, its tendency 
will be towards intellectual and moral pursuits; and unless 
some strong external counteracting agency is at work, the 
people will speedily become civilized. Where the posterior 
and basilar regions predominate, the nation will be governed 
by the lower propensities, and civilization be an imperfect 
process. In the following sketches we have a Carib and a 
Teutonic head: the latter is the type of head prevailing among 
the civilized nations of Europe, and its immense superiority 
in the regions of sentiment and intellect is obvious at a 
single glance. Ungovernable propensities, and wretched 



198 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 



morality and intelligence, are the distinguishing features of a 
people with the Carib form of head. 





Carib. 



Teutonic. 



Are any of the lower animals gifted with reason? 

Some of them are so, although it is common to deny 
them the possession of this quality. If a dog leaps upon a 
table and is well whipped for doing so, why does he cease to 
repeat the offence ? Simply because his reason tells him 
that a repetition of it will lead to renewed punishment. 

Have all portions of the human brain corresponding 
portions in the brains of the lower animals 9 

No. The convolutions in which Veneration, Wonder, 
Conscientiousness, and Ideality reside, are peculiar to the 
human brain. 

Is not Phrenology a difficult science, seeing that it requires 
attention to so many circumstances, such as age, tempera- 
ment, health of brain, and education f 

Phrenology is not difficult to those who will take the 
trouble of studying it as it ought to be studied; and even if 
it were difficult, this is no argument against its utility and 
truth. With regard to the number of circumstances to which 
it demands attention, the science is not otherwise situated 
than* any other. They are part and parcel of itself; they 
are certain of the conditions that belong to it : and to study 
phrenology without attending to them, would be as absurd 
as to attempt to get a proper knowledge of physiology 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 199 

without anatomy, or of astronomy without mathematics. 
Phrenology regards not merely the form and size of the 
brain, as is often ignorantly supposed, but also the diversified 
causes which affect its activity and vigour, the laws accord- 
ing to which those causes operate, and, in general every 
circumstance tending to influence the mental powers. 117 

Does not Phrenology lead to materialism ? 

If by materialism is meant the identity of mind and matter, 
it leads to nothing of the kind; phrenologists expressly 
declaring their belief that the brain is not the mind, but 
simply the organized medium through which, in this life, it 
manifests itself. Gall and Spurzheim were immaterialists, 
and so are the most eminent of their disciples, including Mr. 
Combe. 118 



117 The opponents of Phrenology are continually disregarding these 
conditions. Phrenologists positively declare, that no correct inference can 
be deduced in cases of old age and diseased brain; yet we had lately the 
skull of Dean Swift brought forward as an evidence against the science, 
in the face of the notorious fact, that the Dean died at the age of seventy- 
eight, and had been subject to loss of memory, and frantic fits of passion, 
eleven years before his death, and that the last five years of his life were 
passed in idiocy. The most amusing thing connected with such cases is, 
that phrenologists are accused of always having a loop-hole to escape by. 
If they had made it one of the principles of the science, that from an old and 
diseased brain, it could be inferred what sort of character the individual pos- 
sessed in youth and health, andif such a test were found, on trial, completely 
to fail, the only inference would be, that the phrenologists were wrong; 
but when they distinctly state the conditions of their science, what right has 
any man, in testing it, to overlook these conditions, and then set up a cry 
about loop-holes ? If a medical man were asked how much laudanum might 
be safely given to an adult, and were to answer, forty drops, would he be 
responsible if the person who asked him were to give the same quantity to 
a child, and thus destroy it? As well mighty this person accuse him of 
getting out by a loop-hole, when he declared that the dose was distinctly 
mentioned as for an adult, and not for a child. If the opponents of Phreno- 
logy choose to try this science by rules which its professors positively re- 
nounce, they are acting a part equally illogical and absurd. 

118 The following sensible remarks from a religious publication, show 
the absurdity ^of this charge. " This doctrine may, or it may not, be true. 



200 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS* 

Does Phrenology > by making dispositions depend upon the 
shape of the brain, lead to the destruction of responsibility ? 

Phrenology leaves the question of responsibility precisely 
as it found it. 119 No person now pretends that every one is, 
by nature, equally talented and virtuous. The Scriptures 
distinctly recognize a difference of moral and intellectual 
gifts, when they announce, that " unto whomsoever much 
is given, of him shall be much required;" clearly declaring, 
that God did not make every one alike, and that He would 
exact from us in proportion to the degree with which we 
were gifted with His bounties — demanding one talent from 
one man, and two from another. The Scriptures thus point 



but it certainly does not appear to us to be fairly liable to the charge of 
materialism. That certain cerebral organs are connected with certain 
mental faculties does not appear to us to involve materialism, any more 
than the fact that the eye is the organ of seeing, or the ear of hearing; cer- 
tainly not more than the old and very widely entertained supposition that 
the brain is the seat of thought. That the soul is connected with a set of 
material organs, through which it holds communion with the external world, 
and that that connexion, though it may undergo very great modifications, 
is destined to endure for ever, are doctrines which nobody either denies, or 
supposes to involve materialism. And what more materialism is involved 
in the supposition that a particular organ is connected with a particular 
faculty, we do not see. — Edinburgh Christian Instructor. 

119 I have elsewhere spoken of the attacks made by some persons upon 
modern geologists, on the ground of their discoveries being hostile to re- 
ligion. The Rev. Mr. Sedgwick chastises the presumptuous ignorance of 
these individuals with well-merited severity. " There is another class of 
men," says he, (S who pursue geology by a nearer road, and are guided by 
a different light. Well-intentioned they may be, but they have betrayed no 
small self-sufficiency, along with a shameful want of knowledge of the fun- 
damental facts they presume to write about; hence they have dishonoured 
the literature of this country by Mosaic Geology, Scripture Geology, and 
other works of cosmogony with kindred titles, wherein they have over- 
looked the end and aim of revelation, tortured the book of life out of its 
proper meaning, and wantonly contrived to bring about a collision between 
natural phenomena and the Word of God." These remarks apply with 
equal force to the attempt which has more than once been made to place 
Phrenology at variance with religion. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 201 

out a marked difference of endowment among men, and 
Phrenology does no more. For such differences there must 
be some cause, and the science in question ascribes them to 
peculiarities of physical organization in the brain; but to 
say that this leads to irresponsibility more than any other 
doctrine which admits of natural differences of mental en- 
dowment, is to assert a palpable and childish absurdity. 120 

Matter being subject to death, Phrenology, by connecting 
the mind with it, surely militates against the doctrine of the 
immortality of the soul ? 

In reality, it does nothing of the kind. All that Phreno- 
logists contend for is, that in the present life, material 
organs are necessary for the mental manifestations, just as 
eyes and ears are necessary for sight and hearing, or a 
stomach for digestion. The opposite doctrine, that in this 
state of being the mind acts independently of organization, 
does, in reality, militate against the immortality of the soul, 
and degrades the mind to a level with the dust; for it makes 
the soul a changeable essence, subject to infinite alterations — 

120 " Simple and unprejudiced observation of human life is, we imagine, 
sufficient to prove the innateness of the faculties, and that the individuals of 
the race are endowed with them in different degrees : Phrenology merely 
confirms the results of observation, and elucidates the causes of perceived 
and indubitable phenomena. It is. absurd, therefore, to object to Phrenology 
in particular on the score of necessity, and to allow the other systems to 
remain undisturbed as perfectly harmless. If the new system leads to ne- 
cessity, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion, that the old systems lead to 
it also. Christianity itself— which teaches the innateness of human dispo- 
sitions, and the inherent variety of their force among individuals— which 
teaches that ' the tree is known by his fruit,' and that ' a good man,' out of 
the good treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things, and an evil man, 
out of the evil treasure, bringeth forth evil things ' (Matt. xii. 33, 35.), 
— Christianity itself, we say, is equally liable to the charge. The objectors 
ought to be aware, that if they could prove Phrenology to have, in this re- 
spect, an evil tendency, they would, at the very same time, inevitably 
demonstrate the evil tendency of the Christian religion. Unless they are 
prepared for this result, which possibly has not occurred to them, they will 
act wisely in quitting the field." — Phrenological Journal^ vol. viii. p. 547. 

I 2 



20*2 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

weak and fickle in infancy, vigorous in manhood, im- 
becile in old age, and not unfrequently afflicted with 
idiocy and madness. If an immaterial spirit be liable to 
such changes, why may it not be subject to death itself? 
Those, therefore, who oppose Phrenology on the above 
ground, are casting aside a doctrine which does not bear 
against the immortality of the soul, and blindly grasping at 
one which almost necessarily infers its destructibility. 

Is not madness a disease of the mind? 

Not such, properly speaking, although it is customary so 
to consider it. Madness arises from a distempered state of 
the organic apparatus by which the mind works; it is a 
symptom of diseased brain, just as indigestion is of dis- 
ordered stomach. Considered as a separate entity, we may 
as well speak of the death of the mind, as of its disease. 
In short, we ascribe madness to an unhealthy state of the 
instrument which the mind makes use of; as, in looking 
through a telescope, the glass of which is soiled, we see 
objects obscurely, not from any defect of the objects them- 
selves, but from their being seen through an imperfect 
medium. 

Can the particular form of madness under which a per- 
son labours, be surmised by examination of his head? 

This may often be done with wonderful accuracy. If an 
organ in the head of an insane person predominates veiy 
much over the others, we may infer, with every chance of 
being right in our conjecture, that this organ is in a state of 
morbid excitement, and that therein lies the disease. If a 
patient in a mad-house is presented to us with an inordinate 
development of the organ of Cautiousness, there is every 
likelihood that he labours under excessive apprehension, and 
great lowness of spirits. If with this we find Veneration 
amply displayed, he probably is afflicted with religious 
melancholy. If Self-Esteem is large, he, in all likelihood, 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 203 

supposes himself some great personage ; and so on with 
respect to other organs — the largest being always the most 
likely to get into a state of disease. 

What class of persons are likely to be the most bitter 
enemies of Phrenology ? 

Those who themselves possess a defective moral or intel- 
lectual development. Some men of great talent and perfect 
integrity, have opposed the science through ignorance; but 
their opposition, so far from being of an immitigable charac- 
ter, would disappear at once before the light of a proper 
knowledge of the subject. This has already happened in 
many instances; and some who formerly ridiculed Phren- 
ology as an idle chimera, are now among the most able and 
enthusiastic of its supporters. Where the development, 
however, is morally or intellectually defective, the opposi- 
tion will continue, in the face of any evidence, however 
strong. 121 

What is the main object of Phrenology? 

This is made sufficiently apparent by the whole tenor of 
the preceding pages, and hardly admits of a condensed 
reply. It may be stated briefly, that the purpose of the 
science is to give man a knowledge of himself; to point out 



121 " Neither Homer's Thersites, whose cranium was 'misshapen,' nor 
any of Shakspeare's personages, with 'foreheads villanously low,' could 
have heen easily proselyted to the doctrines of Phrenology. The reason is 
obvious. Their own heads would not have 'passed muster.' Their belief, 
therefore, would have been self-condemnatory. And as no man is bound, in 
common law, to give evidence against himself, neither is it very consistent 
with the laws of human nature, for any one to believe, more especially to 
avow his belief, to his own disparagement. As the hump-backed, knock- 
kneed, and bandy-legged, have an instinctive hostility to the exercise of 
gymnastics, it is scarcely to be expected that the flat-heads, apple-heads, 
and sugar-loaf-heads, will be favourably disposed to that of Phrenology. 
Nor will those whose brains are so ponderous behind, and light before, that 
their heads seem in danger of tilting backward." — Professor Caldwell's New- 
Views of Penitentiary Discipline, fyc. Philadelphia, 1829. 



204 MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 

the true method of studying the mind, and of directing and 
applying its energies to proper uses. Phrenology is a study 
which tends eminently to virtue; in particular, it teaches 
toleration and mutual forbearance. By demonstrating the 
natural variety of human dispositions and talents, and the 
innateness of our strongest motives, it loudly urges us to 
judge charitably of the actions of others, and to make 
allowance for their imperfections — to lay upon no individual 
more than he is able to bear, and to desist from the mad 
attempts which have so often been made to assimilate to 
one common standard the opinions of the whole community. 
On the philosophy of education, and on the treatment of 
criminals and the insane, Phrenology throws a flood of light. 






APPENDIX. 



No. I. 

The relative size of the different organs is designated by the Edin- 
burgh phrenologists as follows : — 



1. 

2, idiocy. 

3. 

4, very small. 

5. 

6, small. 

7. 



The figure 12, therefore, annexed to the name of an organ, sig- 
nifies that it is " rather full ; " 19 means that it is between " large" 
and " very large ;" and so on. 

The temperament of the individual whose head is examined, is 
also noted; and his education, as well as the circumstances in which 
he has been surrounded, ought to be inquired into. 



No. II. 



8, rather small. 


15. 




9. 


16, 


rather large 


10, moderate. 


17. 




11. 


18, 


large. 


12, rather full. 


19. 




13. 


20, 


very large. 


14, full. 







PHRENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTER OF GEORGE 
CAMPBELL, EXECUTED FOR MURDER. 

On the 29th of September, 1835, George Campbell was executed 
at Glasgow for murder. As the crime was characterised by pecu- 
liarly atrocious features, and his conduct, on receiving sentence, 
marked by unparalleled ferocity, I was anxious to ascertain how far 
the developments, in a phrenological point of view, harmonised 
with so strongly marked and singular a character. Having asked 
permission of the Magistrates to take a cast of his head after death, 
the request was, in the most liberal manner, at once granted, and a 



206 APPENDIX. 



cast was accordingly taken. On examining this cast, I, as well as 
every one conversant with Phrenology by whom it was seen, per- 
ceived at once that it, in a most remarkable degree, confirmed the 
doctrines of Gall. Conceiving, however, that a previous know- 
ledge of the individual might have had some influence in swaying 
our judgments, and making us see a greater analogy between the 
physical organization and the mental character than was actually 
warranted by circumstances, I came to the resolution of sending 
the cast to an eminent phrenologist in Edinburgh, for the purpose 
of learning what inference he — without any bias, and in perfect 
ignorance of the person from whom it was taken — would draw from 
it. To prevent the possibility of any suspicion being aroused on 
his part, the cast was forwarded, not to him, but to another gentle- 
man, who was requested to deliver it into his hands, without saying 
whose head it was, by whom it was sent, or from what quarter it 
came. To make assurance doubly sure, that portion of the neck 
at the angle of the jaw, marked by the pressure of the rope, was 
carefully removed. No external mark was thus left to indicate 
that the person had perished by strangulation, nor did the counte- 
nance display the slightest appearance of violent death. This fact 
may be verified by any person who chooses to examine the cast. 
The gentleman to whom it was sent, performed his part with scru- 
pulous fidelity, and handed the cast to the object of its destination. 

« Mr. ," says he, " had no information except what he has 

prefixed to his paper, and the knowledge of the fact that the cast 
was that of a dead man." This information refers to the age, tem- 
perament, and education of the criminal — circumstances which 
must, in the generality of cases, be known before any thing like a 
just deduction can be drawn. 

Campbell was of Irish parentage. In appearance he was a good- 
looking and rather prepossessing young man. In stature he stood 
about five feet seven inches, was cleanly made, and rather athletic. 
While very young he entered the army, where he remained seven 
years. Of his general conduct there, I am unable to learn any 
thing that can be depended upon ; suffice it to say, that he was at 
one time severely flogged for striking his sergeant. On leaving the 
army, he went to his father's house, but soon left it in consequence of 
some family quarrels. He then took up his lodgings with a woman 
named Hanlin, with whose daughter (and with the mother also, if 
accounts can be trusted,) he lived in a state of fornication. Han- 
lin's house was a most abandoned one. Lord Meadowbank, one 
of the judges before whom Campbell was tried, pronounced it, 
with great truth and force of language, " a den of infamy, and the 
old woman the presiding demon of the place." It was for murder- 
ing this woman that Campbell paid the forfeit of his life. He had 
frequently threatened to murder her, and one day carried his pur- 



APPENDIX. 207 



pose into effect, by literally, and in the most determined and fero- 
cious manner, trampling her to death. After committing this 
crime, he made no attempt to escape, but went and informed the 
neighbours that the woman had killed herself by drinking. He 
was apprehended, tried, and convicted, very much to his own aston- 
ishment; and when sentence was passed upon him, he burst forth 
into a volley of imprecations against the judges, such as never be- 
fore polluted a court of justice — threatening, at the same time, 
with horrible language, to strike the criminal officers who offered 
to remove him. Those present on the occasion describe his con- 
duct as unutterably horrible and disgusting. On being taken to 
the condemned cell, he seemed more attentive to his food than any 
thing else, complained bitterly of the jail allowance, and expressed 
great satisfaction when supplied with food of a better quality. He 
was grossly ignorant, obdurate, and impenitent. The respectable 
Catholic clergymen by whom he was attended (for he belonged to 
the Church of Rome) had great difficulty in making him compre- 
hend almost any thing. To the last he denied his guilt. He may 
have acknowledged it privately to his confessor, but this, of 
course, is not known. He was vain of his person, and inclined 
to dress neatly. As a proof of this, he devoted a quarter of an hour, 
immediately previous to his execution, to curling his hair. On 
mounting the scaffold, he displayed wonderful firmness, walking 
erectly, tossing his head back in a theatrical manner, and having a 
bold swaggering appearance. All accounts agree in representing 
his life, so far as it is known, as rude, turbulent, and debauched. 
To the young woman with whom he cohabited, he was attached, 
although this did not prevent him from occasionally beating her, I 
suppose in his drunken fits. The attachment was mutual on her 
part, and remained un weakened even after he murdered her mother; 
she visited him in jail subsequently to his condemnation, and seemed 
much affected by. his situation. Having made these preliminary 
remarks, let us now turn to the phrenological analysis. It Js as 
follows, and sufficiently vindicates the skill and acumen of the gen- 
tleman by whom it was made : — 

Plaster cast — size a little above average — temperament nervous- 
bilious — age 25 — uneducated — dissipated. 

DEVELOPMENT. 

Instinct of food y (Alimentiveness) large, . . . 18 

Amativeness, large, 19 

Philoprogenitiveness, very large, .... 20 

Concentrativeness, full, 14 



208 



APPENDIX. 



Adhesiveness, large, 
Combativeness, very largre, 
Destructiveness, very large, 
Secretiveness, very large, . 
Acquisitiveness, large, 
Constructiveness, small, 
Self-Esteem, extra large, 
Love of Approbation, very large, 
Cautiousness, rather large, 
Benevolence, moderate, 
Veneration, large, . 
Firmness, very large, 
Hope, large, . 

Conscientiousness, rather full, 
Wonder, large, 
Ideality, moderate, 
Wit, moderate, 
Imitation, rather full, . 



19 
20 
20 
20 
18 
8 
22 
20 
16 
11 
18 
20 
18 
13 
18 
11 
11 
12 



INTELLECT. 



Individuality, rather large, 
Form, full, 
Size, full, 
Weight, full, 
Colouring, full, 
Locality, large, 
Number, rather full, 
Order, large, 
Eventuality, full, 
Time, large, 
Tune, large, . 
Language, rather large, 
Comparison, moderate, . 
Causality, moderate, . 



17 

14 
15 
14 
14 

19 
12 
18 
15 
19 
18 
16 
10 
11 



APPENDIX. 209 

The following is an accurate profile of the head from which 
these developments were taken : — 




CHARACTER INFERRED. 

I was struck with the resemblance of this cast to that of the too 
famous Thurtell, in the Phrenological Society's collection; only 
that Thurtell's Benevolence was larger, and his head generally 
larger ; and on turning to the development preserved of Thurtell 
in the Phrenological Journal, vol. I. page 328, (but not till I had 
noted down that of the cast sent me,) I found them to agree to a 
great extent. The individual from whom this cast was taken, 
being uneducated, and having possessed an active temperament, 
would give unrestrained vent to a degree of animalism and sel- 
fishness, which must have rendered him a nuisance to his neigh- 
bourhood. He has the organization of gross sensuality in all its 
three points. Even when sober, he had a tendency to brawling 
and bullying — a compound of impudent assurance, self-conceit, 
vanity, insolence, tyranny, obstinacy, violence, and cruelty ; but, 
when drunk, a strait-waiscoat, or a cell in the police-office, 
would be absolutely necessary. He would be loud, boisterous, 
opinionative, and contentious, and his oaths and imprecations 
would be horrible ; while his abuse would have in it an energy, 
malignity, and grossness, peculiarly his own. His selfishness would 
be unmitigated ; grasping, without ever giving, would characterise 
him. His indifference to the misfortunes or sufferings of others 



210 APPENDIX. 



would be marked; and scenes of suffering, such as executions, 
floggings, surgical operations, prize and cock fights, would greatly 
delight him. A single word, which he felt as slighting or ridi- 
culing him, would be returned by a blow ; but many an insult 
he would put on others, and in many a brawl he would be engaged. 
Nevertheless, he would not expose himself to unnecessary dan- 
ger, but would calculate his adversary's strength before he pro- 
ceeded to beat and bruise him or her ; for his utter want of 
refinement and generosity would make no difference between 
sex or age, saving always the very young — for the only soft cor- 
ner of his heart seems to have been love of children. He was 
cunning, and probably a measureless liar, both in his vain-glorious 
boastings, and for all other selfish ends. He was a plotter and 
manceuvrer ; but although, from miserable reasoning powers, his 
schemes would be ill laid, he would have great pride in being 
thought a "deep dog." He was superstitious, a lover of the 
marvellous, and accessible to religious terrors ; a ghost would set- 
tle him in his most boisterous moments. He would court society, 
and dislike solitude, seeking, of course, to be always the cock of the 
company ; for there would be about him a great share of vulgar 
self-importance. 

The knowing faculties seem good, and must have given con- 
siderable aptness and quickness. The Locality would give a 
roaming turn, and a knowledge of places. There must have 
been order and arrangement, which might show themselves in 
neatness and tidiness in dress. There is Music, or the love of it 
strong ; and Time so largely endowed as not only to aid Music, 
but to give the power of telling the hour at any time without 
looking at the clock. The reflecting faculties are very poor in- 
deed, which would produce a deficiency in sense, and an utter 
blindness to the simplest consequences. This defect would ren- 
der abortive many a plan to deceive. Gambling and betting 
would have for this unfortunately organized being peculiar charms. 
He loved money, and would not be scrupulous about the means of 
getting it ; while every farthing of it would go for selfish and 
chiefly sensual indulgences. 

The cast appearing to have been taken after death, I asked and 
was informed that the individual is dead, and " has ceased from 
troubling ;" and I congratulate all who knew him on the rid- 
dance. I should like to learn how he died — it could not be 
peacefully in his bed. Query — Was he hanged for beating out 
some one's brains, or otherwise murdering with ruthless brutality ? 

If such was his fate, I have only to say, that in that enlightened 
system of criminal treatment to which the country is coming, be- 
cause it must, it needed not to have been so. A penitentiary de- 
partment will come to be alloted for the constitutionally violent, 



APPENDIX. 211 

brutal, and cruel, who will be put within walls for a long course of 
reformatory education on the first conviction by which their dan- 
gerous character is clearly proved. In a penitentiary, founded on 
the humane principle of reformation without inflictive vengeance, 
even such a being as this might have been humanized : at least, 
he would not have been permitted to annoy and endanger society, 
by a long course of violence — to end, perhaps, in murder. 

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING BY R. MACNISH. 

I am doubtful whether Secretiveness and Acquisitiveness are so 
large as is given here. The thickness of the temporal muscle not 
being evident from a cast, has probably led the very able writer of 
the foregoing to over-rate them. He seems also to have made 
both Time and Tune larger than is justified by the appearance of 
the cast. Some, who have seen the cast, have objected that the 
distance from the ear to Individuality is larger than we might have 
been prepared for; but Phrenologists have long ceased to regard that 
measurement as any indication of the power of the intellect. The 
distance may be caused by a large middle lobe of the brain, as is 
the case in the present instance. The proper way to ascertain the 
point, is to look how far forward the anterior lobe projects from 
Constructiveness. The great size of Combativeness and Destruc- 
tiveness (both 20) uncontrolled by his Benevolence, (which ranks 
only so high as 11,) and called into fierce action by liquor, easily 
accounts for the murder. His astonishment at the verdict of 
" guilty" probably arose from deficiency in the power of under- 
standing the force of testimony, owing to the smallness of the re- 
flecting organs. Ignorant people are very apt to indulge in absurd 
hopes. His great Love of Approbation, and his large Order, suf- 
ficiently explain the foppish freak of arranging his hair in curls at 
such a time, as well as the marked neatness of his dress as he ap- 
peared upon the scaffold. It is difficult to say what his religious 
feelings might have been, as probably his mind was never directed 
to religion till after he was condemned. His denial of the crime 
makes good his claim to the character of a liar. His Love of Ap- 
probation (20) would induce him to make it appear that he was 
innocent, and his Conscientiousness (only 13) would be no match 
for this strong feeling. The affection of the woman for him was 
very natural. He was a good-looking fellow, and was doubtless so 
much attached to her by his large Adhesiveness as to display affec- 
tion when in good humour ; and when strong marks of affection 
are bestowed on a woman, she is certain, in most cases, to return 
it. The organ on which* the Instinct of Food is conceived to de- 
pend, is as large as 18, which perhaps may explain his conduct 
with respect to the jail provisions, already alluded to, as well as his 



212 APPENDIX. 

fondness for liquor. His good Time and Tune would orobably 
give him a fondness for dancing, for which his figure was weil 
adapted : but whether he really was given to this amusement, I 
have not been able to learn ; that he was so, however, I have very 
little doubt. His great Amativeness (19) was sufficiently apparent, 
in the circumstances of his sensual career. 

Altogether, the head of this man is such, that no good phrenolo- 
gist, would hesitate one moment to say that the lower propensities 
must have been very predominant, prevailing lamentably over the 
Intellect and Moral Sentiments. His mode of life was extremely 
unfavourable to the exercise of the two latter, and must have tended 
to give to the first an enormous preponderance. Ignorance and 
dissipation acting together on such a mind, could hardly lead to 
any other result than the gallows. The analysis, to which I have 
ventured to add these observations, will speak for itself. It is 
perhaps one of the most skilful displays of phrenological acumen 
of which we have any record, and speaks volumes for the science. 
Wherever the man's character was known, the inference accords 
most minutely with it ; and there is every reason to suppose, that, 
were those points cleared up, of which we are still ignorant, the 
correspondence between them and the deduction would be not 
less striking. The concluding paragraph of the analysis is most 
important, and well worthy the attention of legislators. 



No. III. 

ANOTHER CASE IN WHICH THE NATURAL DISPOSITIONS AND 
TALENTS WERE INFERRED FROM A CAST OF A HEAD. 

About four years ago, a cast of a head was sent to Mr. Combe, by 
a gentleman residing at a considerable distance from Edinburgh, 
with a letter expressing " a strong curiosity to know what idea you 
will form of the party, without any previous hint of his character, 
and merely by examining his head. I may mention simply," con- 
tinues the writer of the letter, " that the head is that of an unedu- 
cated person. If you will be so good as write me what you think, 
I shall return you an answer at length, stating as fully as I can, 
what I conceive to be the real character, intellectual and moral, of 
the individual. Of this man I can speak minutely. He is a very 
marked character ; and, so far as I know Phrenology, his head is a 
complete index of himself." No other particulars were furnished. 
Mr. Combe's engagements preventing him from undertaking this 
task, he put the cast into the hands of James Simpson, Esq., who 
examined it carefully, and drew out the following document:— 



APPENDIX. 



218 



Cast of the head of an uneducated man, seemingly under middle 
life — general size of head very large — temperament not discoverable 
from the cast. 



MEASUREMENT. 

From spinal process of occipital bone to Individuality, 
Concentrativeness to Comparison, . 
Hole of ear to occipital spine, 
Do. to Individuality, 
Do. to Firmness, 
Destructiveness to Destructiveness, 
Secretiveness to Secretiveness, . 
Cautiousness to Cautiousness, 
Ideality to Ideality, .... 
Constructiveness to Constructiveness, 
Philoprogenitiveness to Individuality, . 
Anterior lobe of the brain, rather large. 
Portion of brain above Cautiousness, moderate, 
Do. above Causality, moderate. 



6 
6 



DEVELOPMENT. 

Amativeness, large, 
Philoprogenitiveness, very large, 
Concentrativeness, large, 
Adhesiveness, large, . 
Combativeness, large, 
Destructiveness, large, 
Secretiveness, large, 
Acquisitiveness, large, 
Constructiveness, full, 
Self- Esteem, very large, 
Love of Approbation, rather large 
Cautiousness, rather large, 
Benevolence, moderate, . 
Veneration, full, 
Firmness, large, 
Conscientiousness, moderate, 
Hope, full, 
Wonder, full, 
Ideality, rather full, 
Wit, rather full, 
Imitation, full, 
Individuality, large, . 



19 
20 
19 
18 
18 
18 
19 
19 
14 
20 
16 
16 
10 
14 
19 
10 
14 
14 
12 
12 
15 
18 



214 



APPENDIX. 



Form, rather large, 
Size, full, 
Weight, moderate, 
Colouring, small, 
Locality, rather large, 
Number, rather small, 
Order, rather small, 
Eventuality, rather large, 
Time, rather large, 
Tune, rather full, 
Language, moderate, 
Comparison, full, 
Causality, full, 



INFERENCES, 



16 
14 

11 

7 
17 
8 
6 
17 
16 
13 
10 
14 
14 



Mr. says he knows this individual well. I fear that, if he 

has had much to do with him, he knows him too well. His enor- 
mous head must give him great power of character, and I wish I 
could say that that power is all in the direction of good. Without 
education, and, of course, in inferior society, I could not answer 
for this individual not running headlong into the coarsest vicious 
indulgences. The animal endowment is excessive ; and although 
the intellectual is very considerable, the moral is sadly deficient. 
The Amativeness is very great, and it is scarcely to be expected 
that it has been restrained from coarse and selfish indulgence. 
The individual may have married, and may have continued in the 
state as well as entered into it, and loved wife and children, (the 
latter passionately;) but he would usually be a harsh and tyranni- 
cal head of a family. He is loud, domineering, and assuming, and 
probably abusive and imprecatory. He is deficient in kindness 
and mildness. His haughty and assuming character will likewise 
mark him out of doors ; and his pride, obstinacy, opinionativeness, 
touchiness, resentfulness, and violence, must have involved him in 
many a quarrel and brawl. He must be tremendous when drunk. 
He has a prodigious conceit of himself; and although he is not 
indifferent to the praise of others, (which, however, he seldom 
gets,) he snaps his fingers at their opinion when against him. 
His character is intensely selfish. There is much savoir faire, 
amounting even to cunning and hypocrisy. He is proud of being 
thought deep, studies the weak side of those with whom he deals, 
drives a hard and knowing bargain, gives truth to the winds, and 
glories in taking his merchant at disadvantage. He loves money, 
and grasps it so hard that it is difficult to get it out of his clutches 
for his just debts. His perceptions of justice are so feeble, that 
he will consider justice, if directed against himself, as injustice, 



APPENDIX. 21.5 

and even injury. His money will all go for his own animal indul- 
gences, even to the neglect of his family, when he is pinched. 
Charity or benevolence never drew sixpence from him. If he 
can both enjoy sensuality and hoard money, he will do both. He 
possesses very considerable intellectual powers, which will be 
directed steadily in the service of his propensities and selfishness. 
If he has failed to make money in a coarse and plentiful way, it 
must proceed/rom his deficient Conscientiousness affecting his credit. 
His intellectual manifestations are coarse and inelegant, but they 
have considerable vigour. He is shrewd, observing, remembering, 
and sagacious, with a great power of concentrative application of 
mind to his purpose. He might suceeed as a draughtsman or sur- 
veyor, but does not seem to have any mechanical genius about him. 
He is probably an indifferent workman with his hands, except in 
fighting. His head is his implement. I should expect to find him 
unpunctual, disorderly, slovenly, and dirty. He would have figured 
as a warrior or marauder in barbarous times ; force is his engine, 
and he possesses great power of character to wield it. He is not 
insensible to religious impressions, if they were ever pressed home 
upon him ; but his religion will be abject and selfish, and any 
thing but the practical morality of Christianity. 
This individual could not match shades of colour. 

P. S — On reflecting on the foregoing character, it has occurred, 
that although all that has been said is in the man's nature, his 
Secretiveness and Intellect directing his own interest, may have pre- 
vented so broad a manifestation of it as to be generally recognised ; 
or by any but those who have seen him long, closely, and intimately. 

J. S. 



An account of the individual was subsequently drawn up by the 
gentleman who had sent the cast. It is as follows : — 

Character of the uneducated man, deduced from a long and intimate 
knowledge of the individual. 

I have had many opportunities of knowing well the character of 
this individual, which I have made a point of studying minutely, 
both as a matter of curiosity and as an interesting subject of philo- 
sophical speculation. He is a native of Wales, and thirty-two 
years of age ; he stands six feet high, and is very strongly made. 
I am not well versed in the doctrine of the temperaments ; but if 
there be such a temperament as the sanguineo-melancholic, I should 



216 APPENDIX. 



say it is his. Though perfectly illiterate, and ignorant upon almost 
every subject, there is something about the man which makes it 
impossible for any body to despise him. Taken individually, all 
his qualifications are despicable, yet, considered in the aggregate, 
they are of that character which renders it difficult to view him 
contemptuously. His temper is decidedly bad : it is not merely 
quick, but obdurate and sour ; and if he once conceives a dislike 
to any one, it is almost impossible to remove it. He is extremely 
jealous, pettish, and suspicious, and cannot tolerate quizzery of any 
description. At the same time, although on some points it is not 
difficult to play upon him, yet he has such an immense opinion of 
his owm penetration, that he conceives no man could attempt such 
a step without being instantly detected. Any opinion which he 
may form h*. views as infallible, and all the evidence in existence 
will not make him abandon it. I have no doubt whatever, from 
what I have seen and known, that he is tyrannical and domineering. 
He is also very quarrelsome — so much so, that it is disagreeable to 
walk on the streets with him, lest he get involved in a scrape. 
He has no idea of accommodating himself to others, but goes 
doggedly along, pushing aside those who are not exactly disposed 
to get out of his way. He is a capital pugilist. The science of 
boxing he has studied indefatigabiy — not, as it occurs to me, as 
an exercise, but to render himself formidable. The consequence 
is, that he has got into fifty rows ; and if, at any time, you meet 
him, the chances are that his eyes are either in mourning from 
blows received, or his knuckles injured from the punishment given 
to his antagonist. His habits are altogether of a low order. He 
has no fondness for, but rather an aversion to, elegant and virtuous 
female society ; and his associates are mostly prize-fighters, and 
sporting characters generally. With regard to his amative pro- 
pensity, every body acquainted with him knows that it is very- 
great ; he is, in fact, the slave of that feeling, and never speaks of 
a woman except in an animal point of view. I think I may safely 
say, that I never knew a person so perfectly indifferent to poetry, 
painting, fine scenery, and every thing beautiful in the material 
world. It is certain that the Cowgate, or Wapping, would excite 
about as much of the sublime in his mind as Glencoe or the Vale 
of Chamouni. If people in his company begin to speak of such 
subjects, and show any rapture, he gets gloomy and irritated, pro- 
nounces the conversation " d« d stuff," and, unless it be aban- 
doned, he leaves the room. On the contrary, get upon fighting, 
and, like the war-horse, his eye instantly lightens up — he becomes 
the cock of the company, and describes, with intense delight, the 
many brawls he has been in, — shows how he pounded this man and 
that man, and exemplifies, in the most graphic manner imaginable, 
all the different details of a fight. Indeed, his stories on such 



APPENDIX. 217 



subjects are master-pieces in their way. They abound in details,—* 
are astonishingly circumstantial; and if he tells the story fifty 
times, it never varies. I have no doubt whatever that many of his 
alleged exploits are mere lies ; but they are certainly the best put- 
together ones I ever listened to, and look prodigiously like truth. 
In fact, their excessive circumstantiality and detail, and the un- 
varying way in 'which he tells them, long imposed upon me, and 
convinced me that, in spite of their improbability, they must be 
true, till I ascertained from unquestionable evidence, that some of 
them, at least, were merely ingenious fabrications, got up for the 
purpose of aggrandizing himself. 

He is very fond of praise, especially of his person, which he 
considers faultless. This, indeed, is the only vulnerable point 
about him, and if the thing is done judiciously, he will swallow a 
most enormous dose ; but if he once supposes they are quizzing 
him, it will require no small restraint to prevent him from inflict- 
ing summary punishment on the quizzer. His great ambition is 
to be a first-rate boxer, or possess great strength ; and so strong is 
the feeling, that if the choice were given him of being able to 
write Paradise Lost, or beat Jem Ward, there is no doubt he would 
fix upon the latter. Literature and literary men he views with 
great contempt. He says, that if he had received a proper educa- 
tion, and possessed the same advantages as other people, he could 
have written as good works as any man that ever lived. With all 
this he has no love whatever for reading. Indeed, he confesses, — 
I sincerely believe, for the purpose of making his natural genius 
appear more extraordinary — that he never read a volume through 
all his life, a fact which I perfectly credit. The only reading he 
ever indulges in, is the account of the prize-fights in Bell's Life in 
London. 

One strong feature in his character is a total want of punctuality. 
When he makes an appointment, it is the merest chance in the 
world if he keeps it. Indeed, he does not seem to think there is 
the slightest impropriety in violating such engagements. He is 
also slovenly in his dress, and altogether what you would call a 
careless, reckless sort of being. 

So far as I know the mao, I should say that his character is 
greatly deficient in philanthropy. He is disposed to take harsh 
views of things, and judge people's actions uncharitably. When 
offended at any one, he is also prone to curse at him and abuse him 
without mercy. Indeed, the whole texture of his mind is singu- 
larly inelegant ; and I do not believe, that, under any system of 
education, it would be possible to have made him, in manners or 
conversation, a suitable companion for well-bred people. 

With regard to his conscientiousness, I really am at a loss what 
to say. For the first six years of my acquaintance with him, I 
» K 



"218 APPENDIX. 



considered him the most simple-minded and honest of human 
beings, and, for any thing I can prove to the contrary, I might 
consider him so still ; but I must say candidly, that some reports 
got into circulation against him in 1829, any thing but creditable to 
his honesty. He was accused (with what truth I know not) of 
having appropriated sums of money which did not belong to him ; 
and a stigma was attached to his character on this account, which I 
sincerely hope, and almost believe, is false, but which many per- 
sons affirm to be too true. This is all I can say. Be the matter 
as it may, it has done him great injury, and prevented him ever 
since from getting respectable employment. 

I have spoken of his want of punctuality. This irregular pro- 
pensity is manifested in the preference he gives to dining in chop- 
houses to doing so in his own house, and in his fondness for late 
hours. Indeed, he is exceedingly unsystematic, though both 
shrewd, observant, and sagacious. He seems, in an argument, to 
be quite incapable of proceeding upon general principles ; and al- 
though he will never strike his own colours, he invariably mysti- 
fies and tires out his opponents. 

He is ambitious of being thought formidable in drinking and 
eating. I have heard him boast before ladies of the quantity of 
porter he could drink, and beef-steaks he could consume. He 
is exceedingly pleased when any one compliments him upon his 
amative pow T ers; and, in short, swallows with avidity whatever 
tends to exalt him in the scale of manhood. The only intellectual 
quality which he is vain of having imputed to him is his great 
penetration and his talents for argument. He alleges, that were 
he better educated, he would be quite invincible at the latter 
accomplishment. 

I think he has some mimicry about him, but it is all of the 
low kind. I have seen him take off some of his acquaintances 
pretty adroitly. He has also a fondness for vulgar jokes. For 
instance, I have seen him get hold of some half-cracked crea- 
ture, and try how many pies he could eat — he himself laughing 
heartily, and enjoying the exhibition with great delight. I re- 
collect of him getting a couple of fellows to try which of them 
would eat most rapidly a quantity of hot porridge, the winner 
to get five shillings for his performance. On another occasion he 
promised a carter two shillings if he would drink off half a gallon 
of small beer. 

With regard to his love of money, I am at a loss what to say. 
Any time that I have seen him spend money, it always occur- 
red to me as if it were done more out of a pure spirit of osten- 
tation than from liberality. Others have frequently made the 
same remark. I cannot bring myself to say that any particular 
fondness for the acquisition of wealth on his part ever occurred 



APPENDIX. 219 

to me : but on this point I am not competent to speak. Of 
one thing, however, I am certain, that most of the money he lays 
out is expended in the bagnio, the chop-house, or among the 
pugilists. He spends little in clothing, and I believe never pur- 
chased a book in his life time. 

I cannot speak of his religious feelings. I never saw any ex- 
hibited; but he has been most unfavourably situated for their 
manifestation. If he once took it into his head to be religious, he 
would be such a saint as Louis XI. or Catherine de' Medici. 

In short, he is a man who may be persuaded into a thing by 
flattery, but it is impossible to make him move a step by any 
other consideration. His obstinacy is very great, and proof against 
almost any thing. If he were in a station where he had plenty 
of scope and little restraint, I think he would be extremely 
tyrannical and fond of inflicting punishment. I have often heard 
him express great rage against Colonel Brereton for not sabring 
the people at Bristol, and swear that if he had had the command 
on that occasion, he would have slaughtered them by hundreds. 
This I believe firmly he would not scruple to do in such cir- 
cumstances. If he took a fancy for a person, and that person 
did exactly as he wished, I think he would sacrifice life and 
limb to serve him ; but the slightest symptom of the individual 
acting independently and thinking for himself would make him 
cast him off. With regard to his love of children, I should 
think it considerable. At least children — with the exception of 
his three brothers to whom he is much attached — are the only 
people towards whom I ever observed him to take a fancy. His 
letters are stiff, and indicate a deficient command of language ; 
though in his capacity of a clerk he has had plenty of experience 
in letter writing. His arithmetical powers are not great. I 
should think them below par. That he would be intensely liti- 
gious it is impossible to doubt. The expression of his face is 
sinister and gloomy, and indicates dogged determination and 
great want of mental flexibility. 



REMARKS BY MR. SIMPSON ON THE PRECEDING ACCOUNT. 

This character is substantially the same as that transmitted to 

. To the postscript of the latter it gives great value. In spite 

of six years' intimate acquaintance with, and minute study of, this 

singular person, Mr did not know an important feature in his 

character — his deficient Conscientiousness, but had it only from re- 
ports. Yet he narrates several traits quite inconsistent with Con- 
scientiousness, although he himself does not appear to observe how 
they bear. 



2-0 aitendix. 



No. IV. 

CHANGE OF CHARACTER AND TALENTS, AND A SIMULTANEOUS 
CHANGE IN THE FORM OF THE HEAD. 

The following observations are reprinted in the 50th number of 
the Phrenological Journal, from an American work, entitled " Prac- 
tical Phrenology, by Silas Jones," published at Boston, in J 836. 

"Great changes in moral character and talents sometimes mani- 
fest themselves in indivduals, and the question is put to the phreno- 
logist, whether the head changes to a corresponding extent? This 
question requires a very candid and considerate answer. 

" 1. It is important to remark upon the nature of the change 
which takes place in character, before we attempt to account for it 
by a change in the size of organs. 

" The first change is that which takes place before the individual 
arrives at maturity. During this forming period of character great 
changes often take place, especially in those who are about equally 
inclined to good and to evil practices. The different parts of char- 
acter develope themselves just as circumstances draw them out at 
the usual age of their manifestation. More than twenty-five of the 
primitive faculties shew themselves during the first eighteen months, 
others appear at subsequent periods, and different groups claim as- 
cendency at different times. As to all the changes of this period, 
there can be no question that the shape of the head will change as 
the character changes. However, at this period the organs change 
much in relative activity, without an equally corresponding change 
in size. Those organs which have never been excited by their ap- 
propriate objects will have been less active than those which have 
had abundant exercise ; but commence the exercise of the organs 
by the stimulus of their own objects, and you draw them at once 
into activity, and, as they become active, the structure improves as 
well as increases in size. We must not suppose that there is no 
other difference in cerebral organs but that of size. The differ- 
ences in perfection of structure and tendency to activity, arising from 
habits of exercise, are quite as great as those of activity. Hence, 
judgments formed of the strength of particular faculties, without 
inquiry as to the education they have received, are liable to error. 

" 2. Alterations which take place in the character of individuals 
sfter they arrive at maturity, are seldom any more than a change 
in the objects on which the faculties act. When this is the case, 
no change in the form of the head is to be expected. The faculty 
which respects talents, office, rank, and wealth, adores the Deity ; 
and he that has turned from the worship of idols to the worship of 
the only true God, has brought into action no new organ ; and, 



APPENDIX. 221 

unless he worship with more fervour, his reverence will not be in- 
creased in activity. 

" 3. Changes in the form of head are only to be expected where 
there has been a great change in the degree of activity of organs. 
If organs which have been very active cease to be so, while others 
which have been idle are drawn into great activity, then, in a few 
years, we may, in many instances, be able to notice a change. This 
embraces the several classes of cases. 

" 1. Where an individual is not advanced beyond the meridian 
of life, and has become very thoughtful and studious for a few 
years, giving great exercise to the reflective organs, they will per- 
ceptibly increase in size. There are several facts which go to prove 
this. So, where individuals have been suddenly changed from 
situations which did not give much exercise and excitement to the 
perceptive organs, to those which required great exercise and ac- 
tivity of them, we may expect a sudden growth of those organs. 
. " But these cases are so rare, and the changes are so gradual, 
that much pains should be taken to collect the facts with accuracy. 
Mr. Deville has been engaged in taking casts of individuals at dif- 
ferent periods and ages, for the purpose of making comparisons. 

" I have several facts, founded not upon observations made from 
comparison of casts, but still they are such as to be entitled to our 
confidence. A young artist of my acquaintance had formerly been 
a dealer in dry goods, and, a few years since, commenced the busi- 
ness of portrait-painting. He had been absent for several years 
from his mother : when on a visit to her, she called him up to her, 
and, observing every part of his countenance carefully, said, ' Your 
forehead has altered in form since I saw you, all the lower part of 
it seems to be pushed out.' This was the careful observation of a 
fond mother, when tracing out the lineaments of a beloved son. It 
was no doubt true. Nearly all the perceptive organs are now very 
decidedly large ; and he says they have increased in size since he 
commenced his new vocation. Young men in cities, it will be 
found, have greater power and activity in the perceptive organs 
than those who have always been in country situations. There is 
a constantly changing succession of objects in cities, which give 
ample scope and stimulus to these organs. These rapid changes 
are unfavourable to quiet reflection, hence the knowing organs 
acquire a great ascendency. 

" I have noticed, in very many instances, that experienced navi- 
gators have the organs of Locality very prominent, and probably in 
consequence of great exercise of them. So, with blind people, 
these organs become very large. It is the case of a blind man in 
Boston, who travels in every part of that city without a guide. 

" 3. A third class of cases is that in which a change takes place 
in the feelings, as where one or two feelings become exceedingly, 



222 APPENDIX. 



and almost morbidly, active for many years, as in the case of De- 
structiveness and Secretiveness in G. M. Gottfried. Also, in con- 
sequence of some great shock to some feeling, as to Adhesiveness, 
Self-Esteem, Hope, or Love of Approbation, there may be a change 
in the form of the head in the regions of those organs. 

" I have, in hundreds of instances, seen very striking depressions 
in the heads of persons of mature years, but seldom in the heads of 
children. These depressions are most frequent at the localities of 
those organs which are most liable to great neglect or suffering. 

" It is not to be supposed that changes in the form of the skull 
externally, will be co-extensive with every slight change in the 
habits of thought and feeling. The organs may change greatly in 
activity without such a change in volume externally as to be notice- 
able. The organs most used may be contiguous to others most 
neglected. In such a case the one would be diminished as the 
other increased. Neither protuberances nor depressions are to be 
looked for in ordinary cases. The practised phrenologist does not 
need them to enable him either to find the location of the organs, 
or the innate dispositions and talents. They are rather to be re- 
garded as rare occurrences and curiosities, which have enabled 
Gall, Spurzheim, and others, to conjecture the location of organs, 
which have since been proved by thousands of well-observed facts, 
not less conclusive, although less peculiar." 

This subject is more fully discussed by Dr. Andrew Combe, in 
the Phrenological Journal, No. 51, in which is published a remark- 
able case of contemporaneous change of dispositions and cerebral 
development, by Mr. Kirtley, surgeon at Barnard Castle. 

Mr. Deville took a cast of the head of a gentleman, thirty-two 
years old, and a second cast when he was at the age of thirty-six. 
For three or four years previously to taking the first cast, this gen- 
tleman was very fond of hoarding money, and his desire of accumu- 
lating had rendered him so penurious and unhappy, that, though 
his property was considerable, his friends were afraid of his becom- 
ing insane from the sheer dread of being reduced to beggary. They 
endeavoured to reason him out of this feeling, and sent him abroad 
with a gentleman, by whose attention and kindness he completely 
overcame the propensity, and made some progress in the study of 
the classics and of music. Mr. Deville states, that, upon measuring 
and comparing the two casts, he found the head to have consider- 
ably increased in size at the situation of the organs of Benevolence, 
Ideality, and the Reflecting Faculties. " I have," he adds, " two 
well authenticated casts of a great artist, whose life is well known. 
The first is a mask taken in 1792, when he was about forty-five 
years of age ; the other a cast of his head taken after death, in 1816. 
Now, it is well known that he became a hoarder and groveller after 
money during the last fifteen or twenty years of his life ; nay, he 



APPPENDIX. 223 

became miserable from fear of coming to want, though he possessed 
extensive property, besides his pictures, which were of great value. 
Now, upon applying the callipers at Acquisitiveness, the second 
cast is found to be nearly four-eighths of an inch broader than that 
taken in 1792, while, at the same time, its height has diminished; 
it has become flatter at Benevolence, and wider at Acquisitiveness. 
Tc some this may appear extraordinary, and, had I known only a 
single instance, I should have been silent ; but as I have now be- 
tween fifty and sixty cases of alteration of the form of the skull, ac- 
companied by change of character, the subject assumes an impor- 
tant character, and calls to the extensive investigation." 

No. V. 

At page 186, I have quoted an extract from a paper by Mr. 
Robert Cox, in the 9th volume of the Phrenological Journal. It 
is entitled " Observations on the Mutual Influence of the Mental 
Faculties," and contains some very luminous and novel views on 
this subject. From this interesting article I copy the following re- 
marks : — 

" Of all the causes which excite Destructiveness, the disagreeable 
activity of Self- Esteem is the most frequent and powerful ; and, 
indeed, there are few occasions on which it does not partake in the 
suffering produced by offence of the other faculties. For, as Lord 
Bacon remarks, 'contempt is that which putteth an edge upon 
anger, as much or more than the hurt itself; and, therefore, when 
men are ingenious in picking out circumstances of contempt, they 
do kindle their anger much. 5 Self- Esteem, when ill-regulated, 
makes individuals prefer themselves to every other person, and gives 
them a tendency to engross as much as possible the sources of hap- 
piness for their own peculiar advantage. Such men are therefore 
offended when they see other people either enjoying gratifications 
in which they have not the good fortune to partake — the mode of 
activity of Self- Esteem being in this case denominated envy, or 
grasping at what they themselves are desirous to obtain, whereby 
the emotion of jealousy is produced. The occasions which give 
birth to envy and jealousy, vary according to the faculties which 
happen to be, along with Self- Esteem, energetic. Thus, an un- 
married lady, possessing large organs of the domestic affections, 
combined with a great development of Self-esteem, will be ex- 
ceedingly apt to envy such of her acquaintances as are happily mar- 
ried, and surrounded by a promising and healthy family ; while she 
will harbour jealousy towards any one who endeavours to secure 
the affections of the man whose love she desires for herself. A self- 
esteeming and acquisitive individual competing for a lucrative office 



224 APPENDIX. 

is jealous of his rival ; and, after failing in the pursuit, regards him 
with envy. This pain of Self. Esteem renders him maliciously dis- 
posed towards the fortunate candidate ; he bears a grudge against 
him, rejoices in his misfortunes, and lets slip no opportunity of 
blasting his reputation. In the case here supposed, there is added 
to envy the emotion of hatred, which is a compound of the painful 
emotion of Self- Esteem, or of some other faculty, with the propen- 
sity to injure or destroy. 

" The weapons by which Love of Approbation is vulnerable, are 
slander, ridicule, and the expression of displeasure ; and it is hardly 
necessary to say that these have a strong tendency to excite a desire 
to injure the person from whom they proceed. Disappointment of 
this feeling has a similar effect. A man who is quashed where he 
intends to make a splendid figure, seldom fails to bear a grudge 
against the person by whom he is annihilated. When both Self- 
Esteem and Love of Approbation are powerful — as they were in 
Bonaparte, for example — there is a desire not merely to be ap- 
plauded and admired, but to be the grand and prominent object of 
applause and admiration — to walk, in short, ' the sole hero upon the 
stage.' Such a man is, therefore, jealous of all whom he suspects 
of aiming at a share of the eclat, and envies and hates them when 
they get more than he. Robert Burns used to be grievously 
offended and irritated when not made the lion of the company in 
which he was present. The noted case of David and Saul furnishes 
another good illustration. When the virgins, in celebrating their 
exploits, proclaimed that * Saul had slain his thousands, and David 
his ten thousands,' the king, we are told, ' was very wroth, and the 
saying displeased him ; and Saul eyed David from that day and 
forward.' An army which has been mortified and disgraced by 
defeat at the hands of an enemy before regarded with contempt, is 
apt to be extremely ferocious when at length a victory is gained. 
The conduct of the Duke of Cumberland's troops in the Highlands 
of Scotland, after the battle of Culloden, illustrates this remark. 
General Hawley, in particular, whose arrogance seems to have ex- 
ceeded even his folly, is characterized by Mr Chambers as having 
been * one of the most remorseless of all the commanding officers ; 
apparently thinking no extent of cruelty a sufficient compensation 
for his loss of honour at Falkirk.' 

" It is curious, and to some may appear paradoxical, that even 
Benevolence can act as a direct stimulus to Destructiveness. Its 
disagreeable excitement occurs when we witness the infliction of 
pain, and is called pity or compassion. The benevolent man whose 
Destructiveness is powerful, has, in such cases, a vivid inclination 
to bestow summary chastisement on the inflicter. This is well ex- 
emplified by the incident which gave occasion to the maledictory 
poem of Burns, written on seeing a wounded hare pass by, and in 



APPENDIX. 225 

which are embodied, in nearly equal proportions, compassion for 
the hare, and curses on the man who had wounded it. So enraged 
was the poet, that he threatened to throw the sportsman into a 
neighbouring river. In like manner, when a crime of great atro- 
city is perpretated against any individual, the anger is not confined 
to the sufferer alone. * There rises,' says Dr. Thomas Brown, *in 
the mind of others, an emotion, not so vivid perhaps, but of the 
same kind, involving the - same instant dislike of the injurer, and 
followed by the same eager desire of punishment for the atrocious 
offence. In periods of revolutionary tumult, when the passions of 
a mob, and even, in many instances, their most virtuous passions 
are the dreadful instruments of which the crafty avail themselves, 
how powerfully is this influence of indignation exemplified in the 
impetuosity of their vengeance ! Indignation is then truly anger. 
The demagogue has only to circulate some tale of oppression ; and 
each rushes almost instantly to the punishment of a crime, in which, 
though the injury had actually been committed, he had no personal 
interest, but which is felt by each as a crime against himself.' 

ic The offence which impiety, real or imagined, gives to Venera- 
tion, is not slow in calling Destructiveness into exercise." " The 
Crusades will readily occur to the reader as exhibiting a fearful 
ebullition of Destructiveness excited through the medium of Ven- 
eration." 

No. VI. 

The errors daily committed in speaking of genius, demonstrate 
strikingly the advantages possessed by the phrenological doctrine 
over the old philosophy. In Dr. Currie's Life of Burns I find the 
following passage : — 

" He who has the faculties fitted to excel in poetry, has the facul- 
ties which, duly governed, and differently directed, might lead to 
pre-eminence in other, and, as far as respects himself, perhaps in 
happier, destinations. The talents necessary to the construction of 
an Iliad, under different discipline and application, might have led 
armies to victory, or kingdoms to prosperity ; might have wielded 
the thunder of eloquence, or discovered and enlarged the sciences 
that constitute the power and improve the condition of our species." 

This principle is also maintained in the following passage from 
an article in one of the ablest of our periodicals : — 

" Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Reubens, or Titian, 
would have been illustrious in any line of life. Mr. Pitt or Mr. 
Burke, if greatness had, in Britain, been accessible by such a 
channel, would have made magnificent painters." — Blackwood's 
Mi\gazine, vol. xl. p. 83. 



2*26 APPENDIX. 

Phrenology demonstrates the extreme fallacy of such doctrines. 
According to Dr. Currie's view of the case, Homer might have 
excelled in science, and become a Newton ; but, if this reasoning 
is sound, it follows that Newton — who declared poetry to be ingen- 
ious nonsense — might also have become a Homer, and written a 
second Iliad instead of the Principia. The chief essentials to poeti- 
cal excellence are imagination, and the power of embodying its 
productions in sublime or beautiful language ; but such qualities 
are in no respect necessary to excel in mathematics. Again, al- 
though a man is a poet, it does not follow that he can command 
armies or rule kingdoms successfully, for both of these feats can be 
performed well without either lofty imagination or poetical lan- 
guage ; and if he had the two latter qualities in the utmost possible 
degree, he would not make a better general or practical statesman 
than if he wanted them entirely. Demosthenes and Horace prove 
that distinguished orators and poets may run away panic-struck from 
the field of battle. Cowper occupies a high rank as a poet ; but 
was ever man so totally destitute of warlike qualities ? With respect 
to painting, powerful faculties of Form, Size, Constructiveness, 
Colouring, and Imitation, are essential to eminence in that art ; but 
of what use are they in eloquence or statesmanship ? None what- 
ever : hence had Pitt and Burke been destitute of them, these 
highly-gifted men never by any possibility could have been con- 
verted into painters, while their oratory and power to guide the helm 
of the state would not have been in the least degree impaired by such 
a want. The illustrious artists mentioned in the quotation were men 
of surprising versatility of talent ; but it cannot be doubted that in 
many things they would not have shone with any degree of lustre. 
A great painter or orator may or may not excel in other walks ; but 
we never can infer that he does so excel merely because he chances 
to be great as a painter or orator. If a man eminent in one depart- 
ment must necessarily excel in another, why did Pope try in vain 
to succeed as a painter ? We know that he made the attempt ear- 
nestly, and we know also that he utterly failed. Had he possessed 
the cerebral configuration indispensable to painting as perfectly as 
that which confers poetic talent, his excellence would have been 
equally decided in both departments. Nature, however, while she 
showered upon him one divine gift, denied him the other ; and no 
more could he have rivalled the productions of any master of the 
pictorial art, than walked under the armour of Goliath, or wielded 
the club of Hercules. Cicero, in like manner, although the greatest 
of Roman orators, showed himself, as a poet, to be utterly ridiculous 
and contemptible. 



APPENDIX. 227 



No. VII. 



The following extraordinary case of Homicidal Monomania I 
find published in the Athenaeum. The subject of it bears a strong 
resemblance to the character of Rene Cardillac, the jeweller, as 
detailed in Hoffman's powerfully written tale, entitled " Made- 
moiselle de Scuderi :" — 

" INSANE ATTACHMENT TO BOOKS. 

" The Spanish papers contain the report of one of the most sin- 
gular trials that for a long time has amused or interested the public. 
It is the trial which has recently taken place at Barcelona, of an ex- 
Monk, Friar Vincente, who was condemned for having committed 
several murders, instigated solely by his love of books. The last 
murder, that which led to the discovery of the assassin, was that of 
a poor book-vender, named Patxot, who kept his shop (a stall) 
under the pillars de los Encantes, at Barcelona. Friar, or ex-friar, 
Vincente, for he called himself Don Vincente, had, on expulsion 
from his convent, established himself under the same pillars, for 
the purpose of vending books, and had contrived to secure a good 
share of the literary riches of his convent on his own shelves. Like 
several bibliopoles amongst ourselves, Vincente, though fond of 
selling, was still more desirous of having and keeping ; and he 
never parted with a genuine book-treasure without manifest reluc- 
tance. At times he was known to fly into a passion, and abuse the 
happy persons who purchased and were about to carry off an antique 
volume. 

" About four months since an auction took place of the library 
of an old lawyer. Amongst the books was a glorious copy of the 
1 Furs e Ordinacions fetes per los Gioriosos Reys de Arago als 
Regnicols del regne de Valencia.' It was printed in 1482, by 
Palmart, who introduced printing into Spain. Patxot desired much 
to have it, but Vincente's desire was still greater. The latter bid 
upwards of <£50 sterling, but Patxot bid still higher; and Vincente 
was obliged to abandon it to his rival. Patxot carried it off in 
triumph, but Vincente was heard to murmur vengeance. Ere a 
week had elapsed, the shop of Patxot was consumed by flames, and 
the body of the unfortunate bibliopole reduced to ashes, together, 
as it was supposed, with all his treasures. 

" The authorities did not think of inquiring into a circumstance 
that seemed natural, until the number of assassinations began to 
attract attention. A German literateur, who visited Barcelona, had 
been found murdered ; a curate also of the neighbourhood. This 
was at first attributed to political causes, until at length it was 



228 APPENDIX. 



remarked that all the victims were men of studious habits. An 
alcalde, Don Pablo Rafael, author of many learned works, had dis- 
appeared ; a judge, too, and other functionaries. 

" It was forthwith rumoured that the Inquisition had been secretly 
re-established, and that a tribunal under its laws held mysterious 
sittings, and pronounced these fearful sentences, so fearfully exe- 
cuted. Search was made at the domiciles of all persons supposed 
likely to belong to such a society ; and, in pursuance of this suspi- 
cion, the shop of Don, or Friar, Vincente was searched. Nothing 
was found but books. The Corregidor seized one of these, the 
* Directorium Inquisitorum • of Gironne, as relating to his object ; 
when the removal of the volume caused another to fall, which had 
been secreted behind it. This was picked up, and opened, and 
proved to be the ' Furs e Ordinacions,' the volume purchased so 
dearly at the sale by poor Patxot, and which was now found in the 
possession of his rival bidder. The search was continued, and 

another book was found, which had belonged to Don Pablo N , 

another victim. Vincente was seized, confined, menaced, and at 
length promised to confess, upon one condition, — viz., that his col- 
lection of books should not be scattered or sold to different persons. 
Satisfied in this respect, Vincente made a clean breast, and repeated 
his confession, with full explanations respecting his conduct, on the 
day of his trial. 

" Placed at the bar, Vincente appeared, a little, stout, dark, man, 
with ruddy and open countenance^ Having made the sign of the 
cross, he thus began : — 

" * I will tell the truth ; I have promised it. If I have been 
guilty, it has been with good intentions. I wished to enrich science, 
and preserve its treasures. If I have done ill, punish me ; but 
leave my books together— they have done no harm. It was most 
reluctantly I consented to sell my first precious book to a curate. 
St. John is witness I did my utmost to disgust him with it. I told 
him it was a bad copy, had a page in manuscript, &c. ; all would 
not do ; he paid the price, and went away. As he walked off, 
along the Calle Ancho, I followed him, begged him to take back 
his money, and return the book. He refused ; and whilst I was 
entreating him, we reached a lone place. Wearied with his obsti- 
nacy, I took out my dagger, and stabbed him, rolled him into the 
ditch, and covered him with branches, and carried home my pre- 
cious volume, which I see yonder on the table.' 

" The President then asked if this was the only time he had 
killed persons for their books. Vincente replied : * My library is 
too well stocked for that : no se gano Zamora en una hora — Rome 
was not built in a day.' 

" The President bade him explain how he had dispatched the 
other victims. Vincente replied ; * Nothing more simple. When 



APPENDIX. 229 

I found a purchaser so obstinate as that he would have the volume, 
I tore out some pages, well aware that he would come back for 
them. When he did, I drew him into an inner room, under pre- 
tence of replacing the pages, and then dispatched him. My arm 
never failed me.' 

" ' Did not your heart revolt at thus destroying the image of your 
Maker ?' 

" * Men are mortal ; they die sooner or later. But books are 
not so ; they are immortal, and merit more interest.' 

si ' And you committed murder merely for books ?' 

" ' And for what more would you ? Books are the gloria de 
dios' — (the glory of God.) 

" ' And Patxot, how did you murder him ?' 

" ' I got in by the window, found him asleep, threw a soaped 
cord about his neck, and strangled him. When he was dead I took 
off the cord, set fire to the bed, and withdrew.' 

" The advocate of Vincente endeavoured to invalidate the evi- 
dence, by proving that the copy of the work which Patxot had 
bought was not unique. This he succeeded in proving ; and which 
affected his client more than anything else, — more even than his 
sentence. Notwithstanding, he was condemned to the penalty of 
the garrote — (strangulation.") 

No. VIII. 

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR THE PHRENOLOGICAL EXAMINATION 
OF HEADS. 

In the fourth edition of Mr. Combe's " System of Phrenology," 
vol. i. p. 110 — 130, ample details are given with respect to the 
points to be attended to, in making a prenological survey of the 
head. By the permission of that gentleman, I subjoin some of 
his remarks on this important subject; more of them, indeed, than, 
without such permission, I should have considered myself at liberty 
to extract. 

" As size, cceteris paribus, is a measure of power, the first object 
ought to be to distinguish the size of the brain generally, so as to 
judge whether it be large enough to admit of manifestations of 
ordinary vigour ; for, as we have already seen, if it be too small, 
idiocy is the invariable consequence. The second object should 
be to ascertain the relative proportions of the different parts, so as 
to determine the direction in which the power is greatest. 

" It is proper to begin with observation of the more palpable 
differences in size, and particularly F to attend to the relative propor- 
tions of the different lobes. The size of the anterior lobe is the 



230 APPENDIX. 

measure of intellect. In the brain it is easily distinguished, and 
in the living head it is indicated by the proportion lying before 
Constructiveness and Benevolence. Sometimes the lower part of 
the frontal lobe, connected with the perceptive faculties, is the 
largest, and this is indicated by the space before Constructiveness 
extending farthest forward at the base; sometimes the upper part, 
connected with the reflecting powers, is the most amply developed, 
in which case the projection is greatest in the upper region ; and 
sometimes both are equally developed. The student is particularly 
requested to resort invariably to this mode of estimating the size 
of the anterior lobe, as the best for avoiding mistakes. In some 
individuals, the forehead is tolerably perpendicular, so that, seen 
in front, and judging of without attending to longitudinal depth, it 
appears to be largely developed; whereas, when viewed in the 
way now pointed out, it is seen to be extremely shallow. In other 
words, the mass is not large, and the intellectual manifestations will 
be proportionately feeble. 

" Besides the projection of the forehead, its vertical and lateral 
dimensions require to be attended to ; a remark which applies to 
all the organs individually — each having, of course, like other 
objects, the three dimensions of length, breadth, and thickness. 

" The posterior lobe is devoted chiefly to the animal propensities. 
In the brain its size is easily distinguished; and in the living head 
a perpendicular line may be drawn through the mastoid process, 
and all behind will belong to the posterior lobe. Wherever this 
and the basilar region are large, the animal feelings will be strong, 
and vice versa. 

" The coronal region of the brain is the seat of the moral senti- 
ments; and its size may be estimated by the extent of elevation and 
expansion of the head above the organs of Causality in the fore- 
head, and of Cautiousness in the middle of the parietal bones. 
When the whole region of the brain rising above these organs is 
shallow and narrow, the moral feelings will be weakly manifested ; 
when high and expanded, they will be vigorously displayed. 

" After becoming familiar with the general size and configuration 
of heads, the student may proceed to the observation of individual 
organs; and, in studying them, the real dimensions, including 
length, breadth, and thickness, and not the mere prominence of 
each organ, should be looked for. 

" The length of an organ, including its supposed apparatus of 
communication, is ascertained by the distance from the medulla 
oblongata to the peripheral surface. A line passing through the 
head from one ear to the other, would nearly touch the medulla 
oblongata, and hence the external opening of the ear is assumed as 
a convenient point from which to estimate length. The breadth 
of an organ is judged of by its peripheral expansion; for it is a 



APPENDIX. 231 

general law of physiology, that the breadth of an organ throughout 
its whole course bears a relation to its expansion at the surface : 
the optic and olfactory nerves are examples in point. 

" The whole organs in a head should be examined, and their 
relative proportions noted. Errors may be committed at first ; but 
without practice, there will be no expertness. Practice, with at least 
an average endowment of the organs of Form, Size, Individuality, 
and Locality, are necessary to qualify a person to make observations 
with success. Individuals whose heads are narrow between the 
eyes, and little developed at the top of the nose, where these organs 
are placed, experience great difficulty in distinguishing the situa- 
tions and minute shades in the proportions of different organs. If 
one organ be much developed, and the neighbouring organs very- 
little, the developed organ will present an elevation or protuberance ; 
but if the neighbouring organs be developed in proportion, no 
protuberance can be perceived, and the surface is smooth. The 
student should learn from books, plates, imd casts, or personal 
instruction (and the last is by far the best,) to distinguish the form 
of each organ, and its appearance when developed in different 
proportions to the others, because there are slight modifications in 
the position of them in each head. 

" The penological bust shows the situations of the organs, and 
their proportions, only in one head; and it is impossible by it to 
communicate more information. The different appearances in all 
the varieties of relative size, must be discovered by inspecting a 
number of heads ; and especially by contrasting instances of extreme 
development with others of extreme deficiency. No adequate idea 
of the foundation of the science can be formed until this is done. 
In cases of extreme size of single organs, a close approximation to 
the form delineated on the bust, (leaving angles out of view) is 
distinctly perceived. 

" The question will perhaps occur — If the relative proportions 
of the organs differ in each individual, and if the phrenological 
bust represents only their most common proportions, how are their 
boundaries to be distinguished in any particular living head? The 
answer is, By their forms and appearances. Each 1 organ has a form, 
appearance, and situation, which it is possible, by practice, to 
distinguish in the living head, otherwise Phrenology cannot have 
any foundation. 

" When one organ is very largely developed, it encroaches on 
the space usually occupied by the neighbouring organs, the situa- 
tions of which are thereby slightly altered. When this occurs, it 
may be distinguished by the greatest prominence being near the 
centre of the large organ, and the swelling extending over a portion 
only of the other. In these cases the shape should be attended to ; 
for the form of the organ is then easily recognised, and is a sure 



23*2 APPENDIX. 



indication of the particular one which is largely developed. The 
observer should learn, by inspecting a skull, to distinguish the 
mastoid process behind the ear, as also bony excrescences sometimes 
formed by the sutures, and several bony prominences which occur 
in every head, from elevations produced by development of brain. 

" In observing the appearance of individual organs, it is proper 
to begin with the largest, and select extreme cases. The mask of 
Mr. Joseph Hume may be contrasted with that of Dr. Chalmers 
for Ideality ; the organ being much larger in the latter than in the 
former. The casts of the skulls of Burns and Haggart may be 
compared at the same part; the difference being equally conspicu- 
ous. The cast of the Reverend Mr. M. may be contrasted with 
that of Dempsey, in the region of Love of Approbation; the former 
having this organ large, and the latter small. Self- Esteem in the 
latter, being exceedingly large, may be compared with the same 
organ in the skull of Dr. Hette, in whom Love of Approbation is 
much larger than Self-Esteem. Destructiveness in Bellingham 
may be compared with the same organ in the skulls of the Hindoos ; 
the latter people being in general tender of life. Firmness large, 
and Conscientiousness deficient, in King Robert Bruce, may be 
compared with the same organs reversed in the cast of the head of 
a lady (Mrs. H.) which is sold as illustrative of these organs. The 
object of .making these contrasts is to obtain an idea of the different 
appearances presented by organs, when very large and very small. 

•• The terms used by the Edinburgh phrenologists to denote the 
gradations of size in the different organs, in an increasing ratio, are 
Very small Moderate Rather large 

Small Rather full Large 

Rather small Full Very large. 

" Sir John Ross has suggested, that numerals may be applied 
with advantage to the notation of development. He uses decimals ; 
but these appear unnecessarily minute. The end in view may be 
attained by such a scale as is given in Appendix No. I. 

" With respect to the practical employment of the scale above 
described, it is proper to remark, that as each phrenologist attaches 
to the terms small, moderate, full, &c. shades of meaning perfectly 
known only to himself and those accustomed to observe heads 
along with him, the separate statements of the development of a 
particular head by two phrenologists, are not likely to correspond 
entirely with each ether. It ought to be kept in mind, also, that 
these terms indicate only the relative proportions of the organs to 
each other in the same head; but as the different organs may bear 
the same proportions in a small and in a large head, the terms 
mentioned do not enable the reader to discover whether the head 
treated of be, in its general magnitude, small, moderate, or large. 
To supply this information, measurement by callipers is resorted to ; 



APPENDIX. 233 



but this is used not to indicate the dimensions of particular organs, 
for which purpose they are not adapted, but merely to indicate 
the general size of the head. 

" It ought to be kept constantly in view, in the practical appli- 
cation of Phrenology, that it is the size of each organ in proportion 
to the others in the head of the individual observed, and not their 
absolute size, or their size in reference to any standard head, that 
determines the predominance in him of particular talents or dis- 
positions." 



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